Methods, apparatus, and systems for acquiring and analyzing vehicle data and generating an electronic representation of vehicle operations

ABSTRACT

Geo-referenced and/or time-referenced electronic drawings may be generated based on electronic vehicle information to facilitate documentation of a vehicle-related event. A symbols library, a collection of geo-referenced images, and any data acquired from one or more vehicles may be stored in memory for use in connection with generation of such drawings, and a drawing tool graphical user interface (GUI) may be provided for electronically processing vehicle data and geo-referenced images. Processed geo-referenced images may be saved as event-specific images, which may be integrated into, for example, an electronic vehicle accident report for accurately depicting a vehicle accident.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit, under 35 U.S.C. §120, as acontinuation (CON) of U.S. Non-provisional application Ser. No.13/568,932, filed Aug. 7, 2012, entitled “Methods, Apparatus, andSystems for Acquiring and Analyzing Vehicle Data and Generating anElectronic Representation of Vehicle Operations.”

U.S. non-provisional application Ser. No. 13/568,932, filed Aug. 7,2012, claims the benefit, under 35 U.S.C. §120, as a continuation (CON)of U.S. Non-provisional application Ser. No. 12/753,699, filed Apr. 2,2010, entitled “Methods, Apparatus, and Systems for Acquiring andAnalyzing Vehicle Data and Generating an Electronic Representation ofVehicle Operations.”

Application Ser. No. 12/753,699 in turn claims a priority benefit, under35 U.S.C. §119(e), to the following U.S. provisional patentapplications:

Ser. No. 61/166,385, entitled “Geo-Referenced Electronic DrawingApplication for Documenting and Reporting Events,” filed on Apr. 3,2009.

Ser. No. 61/166,392, entitled “Data Acquisition System for and Method ofAnalyzing Vehicle Data for Generating an Electronic Representation ofVehicle Operations,” filed on Apr. 3, 2009.

Each the above-identified applications is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

In any business setting, incidents that are not part of the standardbusiness practice may take place and cause interruption to the businessoperation. Such incidents can potentially reduce the quality of theservices or products of the business, and sometimes may impose civil oreven criminal liabilities on the business. For any given business, theparticular types of incidents that are disruptive may depend on thenature of the business. For example, with respect to companies thatmanage large fleets of vehicles, such as in any field serviceapplications, vehicle accidents can be very disruptive to the businessoperations.

Systems and processes have been implemented for reporting and managingvehicle accidents. For example, upon arrival at the scene of a vehicleaccident, a police officer or other investigator usually fills out apaper accident report explaining in detail the accident scene. As partof this report, the police officer or other investigator may attempt todraw a sketch of the accident scene on a diagram of the road, which isto be submitted with the paper accident report. However, a drawback ofthese paper-based reports, which may be handwritten and may include handsketches, is that the content thereof may be inconsistent, sloppy,illegible, inaccurate, and/or incomplete. As a result, vehicle accidentsmay be poorly documented.

Further, the detailed information relating to, for example, a vehicleaccident is typically acquired by interrogating the drivers involved,collecting eyewitness testimony, by visual observation of the accidentscene, and the like. Consequently, the information may be prone toinaccuracy and contradictions. Additionally, interpretations of thisinformation may be very subjective and inconsistent from one policeofficer or other investigator to another. Therefore, a need exists forimproved ways of collecting, compiling, and interpreting informationwith respect to, for example, reporting vehicle accidents.

Computer-based information systems are becoming cheaper, more rugged,and increasingly networked. As a result, technological advances arechanging the way that information is collected, analyzed, and managed.For example, certain processes and certain types of equipment andinstrumentation are becoming more automatic in nature, especially withregard to the capture and manipulation of data and the conversion ofdata into useful information. In one example, vehicle control systems(or vehicle information systems) are becoming increasinglytechnologically sophisticated. Generally, vehicle control systems may beany systems and/or subsystems that are installed in a vehicle orotherwise associated with the vehicle. Vehicle control systems mayinclude, for example, brake systems, engine systems, electrical systems,steering and suspension systems, emission systems, transmission systems,sensor systems, informational systems and the like. Vehicle controlsystems may provide detailed information of vehicle operations inelectronic form.

SUMMARY

Applicants have recognized and appreciated that a drawback of currentsystems and processes for reporting and managing vehicle accidents isthat they do not take advantage of vehicle control systems that mayprovide information of actual vehicle operations. Instead, these systemsand processes for reporting and managing vehicle accidents are relianton subjective information that is acquired and processed manually.Therefore, a need exists for ways of collecting and utilizing electronicvehicle information that reflects actual events with respect to vehicleoperations, which may have particular usefulness in systems andprocesses for reporting and managing vehicle accidents.

In view of the foregoing, various embodiments of the present inventionare directed to methods, apparatus and systems for documenting eventsvia geo-referenced electronic drawings. With respect to vehicleaccidents, in exemplary embodiments, one or more drawings may beprovided that are referenced to a geographic location and/or that insome way indicate (to scale) the actual environment in which incidentshave occurred. In various aspects, drawings may be provided to scale,include accurate directional and positional information, and/or includerepresentations of various environmental landmarks (e.g., trees,buildings, poles, fire hydrants, barriers, any structures, etc) Examplesof reports that may include one or more geo-referenced electronicdrawings according to various inventive embodiments disclosed hereininclude, but are not limited to, vehicle accident reports.

In sum, one embodiment described herein is directed to an apparatus fordocumenting an incident involving a first vehicle at an incident site.The apparatus comprises: a communication interface; a memory to storeprocessor-executable instructions; and a processing unit coupled to thecommunication interface, the display device, the user input device, andthe memory, wherein upon execution of the processor-executableinstructions by the processing unit. The processing unit: controls thecommunication interface to electronically receive source datarepresenting at least one input image of a geographic area including theincident area; acquires, from a vehicle control system associated withthe first vehicle, vehicle-based information relating to the firstvehicle at a time during or proximate the incident; renders, based atleast in part on the vehicle-based information, a marked-up imageincluding a first representation of at least a portion of the incidentoverlaid on the at least one input image; and further controls thecommunication interface and/or the memory to electronically transmitand/or electronically store information relating to the marked-updigital image so as to document the incident with respect to thegeographic area.

Another embodiment is directed to a method for documenting an incidentinvolving a first vehicle at an incident site. The method comprises: A)electronically receiving source data representing at least one inputimage of a geographic area including the incident site; B)electronically receiving, from a vehicle control system associated withthe first vehicle, vehicle-based information relating to the firstvehicle at a time during or proximate the incident; C) based at least inpart on the vehicle-based information received in B), digitallyrepresenting, on the at least one input image, a first representation ofat least a portion of the incident to thereby generate a marked-updigital image including the first representation; and D) electronicallytransmitting and/or electronically storing information relating to themarked-up digital image so as to document the incident with respect tothe geographic area.

A further embodiment is directed to at least one computer-readablemedium encoded with instructions that, when executed by at least oneprocessing unit, perform a method for documenting an incident involvinga first vehicle at an incident site. The method comprises: A)electronically receiving source data representing at least one inputimage of a geographic area including the incident site; B)electronically receiving, from a vehicle control system associated withthe first vehicle, vehicle-based information relating to the firstvehicle at a time during or proximate the incident; C) based at least inpart on the vehicle-based information received in B), digitallyrepresenting, on the at least one input image, a first representation ofat least a portion of the incident to thereby generate a marked-updigital image including the first representation; and D) electronicallytransmitting and/or electronically storing information relating to themarked-up digital image so as to document the incident with respect tothe geographic area.

The following U.S. published applications are hereby incorporated hereinby reference:

U.S. publication no. 2008-0228294-A1, published Sep. 18, 2008, filedMar. 13, 2007, and entitled “Marking System and Method With Locationand/or Time Tracking;”

U.S. publication no. 2008-0245299-A1, published Oct. 9, 2008, filed Apr.4, 2007, and entitled “Marking System and Method;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0013928-A1, published Jan. 15, 2009, filedSep. 24, 2008, and entitled “Marking System and Method;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0202101-A1, published Aug. 13, 2009, filedFeb. 12, 2008, and entitled “Electronic Manifest of Underground FacilityLocate Marks;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0202110-A1, published Aug. 13, 2009, filedSep. 11, 2008, and entitled “Electronic Manifest of Underground FacilityLocate Marks;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0201311-A1, published Aug. 13, 2009, filedJan. 30, 2009, and entitled “Electronic Manifest of Underground FacilityLocate Marks;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0202111-A1, published Aug. 13, 2009, filedJan. 30, 2009, and entitled “Electronic Manifest of Underground FacilityLocate Marks;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0204625-A1, published Aug. 13, 2009, filedFeb. 5, 2009, and entitled “Electronic Manifest of Underground FacilityLocate Operation;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0204466-A1, published Aug. 13, 2009, filedSep. 4, 2008, and entitled “Ticket Approval System For and Method ofPerforming Quality Control In Field Service Applications;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0207019-A1, published Aug. 20, 2009, filedApr. 30, 2009, and entitled “Ticket Approval System For and Method ofPerforming Quality Control In Field Service Applications;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0210284-A1, published Aug. 20, 2009, filedApr. 30, 2009, and entitled “Ticket Approval System For and Method ofPerforming Quality Control In Field Service Applications;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0210297-A1, published Aug. 20, 2009, filedApr. 30, 2009, and entitled “Ticket Approval System For and Method ofPerforming Quality Control In Field Service Applications;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0210298-A1, published Aug. 20, 2009, filedApr. 30, 2009, and entitled “Ticket Approval System For and Method ofPerforming Quality Control In Field Service Applications;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0210285-A1, published Aug. 20, 2009, filedApr. 30, 2009, and entitled “Ticket Approval System For and Method ofPerforming Quality Control In Field Service Applications;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0204238-A1, published Aug. 13, 2009, filedFeb. 2, 2009, and entitled “Electronically Controlled Marking Apparatusand Methods;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0208642-A1, published Aug. 20, 2009, filedFeb. 2, 2009, and entitled “Marking Apparatus and Methods For Creatingan Electronic Record of Marking Operations;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0210098-A1, published Aug. 20, 2009, filedFeb. 2, 2009, and entitled “Marking Apparatus and Methods For Creatingan Electronic Record of Marking Apparatus Operations;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0201178-A1, published Aug. 13, 2009, filedFeb. 2, 2009, and entitled “Methods For Evaluating Operation of MarkingApparatus;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0202112-A1, published Aug. 13, 2009, filedFeb. 11, 2009, and entitled “Searchable Electronic Records ofUnderground Facility Locate Marking Operations;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0204614-A1, published Aug. 13, 2009, filedFeb. 11, 2009, and entitled “Searchable Electronic Records ofUnderground Facility Locate Marking Operations;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0238414-A1, published Sep. 24, 2009, filedMar. 18, 2008, and entitled “Virtual White Lines for Delimiting PlannedExcavation Sites;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0241045-A1, published Sep. 24, 2009, filedSep. 26, 2008, and entitled “Virtual White Lines for Delimiting PlannedExcavation Sites;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0238415-A1, published Sep. 24, 2009, filedSep. 26, 2008, and entitled “Virtual White Lines for Delimiting PlannedExcavation Sites;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0241046-A1, published Sep. 24, 2009, filedJan. 16, 2009, and entitled “Virtual White Lines for Delimiting PlannedExcavation Sites;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0238416-A1, published Sep. 24, 2009, filedJan. 16, 2009, and entitled “Virtual White Lines for Delimiting PlannedExcavation Sites;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0237408-A1, published Sep. 24, 2009, filedJan. 16, 2009, and entitled “Virtual White Lines for Delimiting PlannedExcavation Sites;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0238417-A1, published Sep. 24, 2009, filedFeb. 6, 2009, and entitled “Virtual White Lines for Indicating PlannedExcavation Sites on Electronic Images;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0327024-A1, published Dec. 31, 2009, filedJun. 26, 2009, and entitled “Methods and Apparatus for QualityAssessment of a Field Service Operation;”

U.S. publication no. 2010-0010862-A1, published Jan. 14, 2010, filedAug. 7, 2009, and entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Quality Assessmentof a Field Service Operation Based on Geographic Location;”

U.S. publication no. 2010-0010863-A1, published Jan. 14, 2010, filedAug. 7, 2009, and entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Quality Assessmentof a Field Service Operation Based on Multiple Scoring Categories;”

U.S. publication no. 2010-0010882-A1, published Jan. 14, 2010, filedAug. 7, 2009, and entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Quality Assessmentof a Field Service Operation Based on Dynamic Assessment Parameters;”and

U.S. publication no. 2010-0010883-A1, published Jan. 14, 2010, filedAug. 7, 2009, and entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Facilitating aQuality Assessment of a Field Service Operation Based on MultipleQuality Assessment Criteria.”

It should be appreciated that all combinations of the foregoing conceptsand additional concepts discussed in greater detail below (provided suchconcepts are not mutually inconsistent) are contemplated as being partof the inventive subject matter disclosed herein. In particular, allcombinations of claimed subject matter appearing at the end of thisdisclosure are contemplated as being part of the inventive subjectmatter disclosed herein. It should also be appreciated that terminologyexplicitly employed herein that also may appear in any disclosureincorporated by reference should be accorded a meaning most consistentwith the particular concepts disclosed herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead generallybeing placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a functional block diagram of a data acquisitionsystem that includes the geo-referenced and/or time-referencedelectronic drawing application for generating an electronicrepresentation of vehicle operations, according to the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates a functional block diagram of the execution of ageo-referenced and/or time-referenced electronic drawing application forgenerating an electronic representation of vehicle operations, accordingto the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a drawing tool GUI of thegeo-referenced and/or time-referenced electronic drawing application,according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a series of geo-referenced and/ortime-referenced drawings that are manually and/or automaticallygenerated using the geo-referenced and/or time-referenced electronicdrawing application, according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a report that is generated using thegeo-referenced and/or time-referenced electronic drawing application andthat includes an electronic representation of vehicle operations,according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow diagram of an example of a method ofgenerating an electronic representation of vehicle operations operationusing the geo-referenced and/or time-referenced electronic drawingapplication, according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates a functional block diagram of a networked system thatincludes the geo-referenced and/or time-referenced electronic drawingapplication for generating an electronic representation of vehicleoperations, according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 shows a map, representing an exemplary input image;

FIG. 9 shows a construction/engineering drawing, representing anexemplary input image;

FIG. 10 shows a land survey map, representing an exemplary input image;

FIG. 11 shows a grid, overlaid on the construction/engineering drawingof FIG. 9, representing an exemplary input image;

FIG. 12 shows a street level image, representing an exemplary inputimage;

FIG. 13 shows the drawing tool GUI of FIG. 2 displaying an animationcontrols window that facilitates playback of a movie style ofpresentation;

FIG. 14 shows the drawing tool GUI of FIG. 2 displaying a layerdirectory pane that facilitates the manipulation of layers;

FIG. 15 shows an example of an input image constructed from bare data;and

FIG. 16 shows an illustrative computer that may be used at least in partto implement the geo-referenced and/or time-referenced electronicdrawing application in accordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Following below are more detailed descriptions of various conceptsrelated to, and embodiments of, inventive methods, apparatus and systemsaccording to the present disclosure for acquiring and analyzing vehicledata and generating an electronic representation of vehicle operations.It should be appreciated that various concepts introduced above anddiscussed in greater detail below may be implemented in any of numerousways, as the disclosed concepts are not limited to any particular mannerof implementation. Examples of specific implementations and applicationsare provided primarily for illustrative purposes.

A data acquisition system for and method of analyzing vehicle data forgenerating an electronic representation of vehicle operations isdescribed herein. Certain embodiments describe a mechanism forgenerating an electronic representation of vehicle operations includesan automated geo-referenced and/or time-referenced electronic drawingapplication.

The geo-referenced and/or time-referenced electronic drawing applicationmay provide a mechanism for importing a geo-referenced image upon whichmay be rendered the electronic representation of vehicle operations. Theelectronic representation of vehicle operations may be renderedautomatically and/or manually. The electronic representation of vehicleoperations may be rendered on the geo-referenced image by analyzingvehicle information that is captured electronically from one or morevehicles, automatically selecting symbols that correspond to the one ormore vehicles from a symbols library, and automatically mapping therelative and actual positions of the one or more vehicles on thegeo-referenced image. The rendering of the electronic representation ofvehicle operations may occur at one or more instances in time in orderto indicate a sequence of events.

It should be appreciated that while the imported or otherwise acquiredimage is described herein as “geo-referenced,” and the drawingapplication is likewise described as geo-referenced, the image need notbe geo-referenced unless required for a particular implementation andthe drawing application may be used for non geo-referenced images. Inmany instances, an image that is not geo-referenced may be suitablyused. Examples of non geo-referenced images that may be suitable invarious scenarios are: a stock or generic image of an intersection, astock or generic image of an room, a stock or generic image of a street,and a photograph taken during investigation of an incident or generationof a report on the incident. Of course, these are merely exemplary, asmany other types of non geo-referenced images are possible. Further, maybe appreciated the image need not be time-referenced unless required fora particular implementation and that the drawing application may be usedfor non time-referenced images.

Further, the automated geo-referenced and/or time-referenced electronicdrawing application may provide a mechanism for generating a report,such as a vehicle accident report, that includes the electronicrepresentation of vehicle operations that is based on actual vehicledata. Additionally, a networked system is described that includes theautomated geo-referenced and/or time-referenced electronic drawingapplication of the present disclosure for generating an electronicrepresentation of vehicle operations.

The data acquisition system may provide an automated way to generate anelectronic representation of vehicle operations that is rendered in atime-referenced manner on real world geo-referenced images with symbols,shapes, and/or lines in order to provide improved and consistentaccuracy with respect to drawings that support, for example, vehicleincident reports.

The automated geo-referenced and/or time-referenced electronic drawingapplication may provide the ability to electronically mark up real worldgeo-referenced images with symbols, shapes, and/or lines to scale, againproviding improved and consistent accuracy with respect to drawings thatsupport vehicle accident reports.

The automated geo-referenced and/or time-referenced electronic drawingapplication may also provides a standard symbols library, therebyproviding standardization with respect to drawings that support, forexample, vehicle accident reports.

Further, the automated geo-referenced and/or time-referenced electronicdrawing application may provide an electronic representation of vehicleoperations that is based on actual vehicle data in a slideshow and/or a2-dimensional and/or 3-dimensional movie style of presentation, whichmay depict in time-lapsed fashion, for example, the actual eventsleading up to a vehicle collision, the actual events at the moment ofthe collision, and the actual events just after the collision.

A networked system that includes the automated geo-referenced and/ortime-referenced electronic drawing application may provide improveddistribution and tracking of vehicle accident reports among entities andmay provide improved control over access to reports.

Referring to FIG. 1, a functional block diagram of a data acquisitionsystem 100 that includes a geo-referenced (GR) and/or time-referenced(TR) electronic drawing application 110 for generating an electronicrepresentation of vehicle operations is presented.

GR and/or TR electronic drawing application 110 may be executing on anysuitable computing device. In one example, GR and/or TR electronicdrawing application 110 may be installed and executing on an onsitecomputer 112. Onsite computer 112 may be, for example, a portablecomputer, a personal computer, a tablet device, a PDA, a cellularradiotelephone, a mobile computing device, a touch-screen device, atouchpad device, or generally any device including, or connected to, aprocessor and a user interface. In one example, the onsite computer 112may be any on-site computer or mobile computer, such as, but not limitedto, a computer that is present in the vehicle that is being used byusers 114 in the field. Users 114 may be, for example, personnel ofaccident investigation companies, law enforcement agencies, and/orinsurance companies.

Data acquisition system 100 further includes one or more vehicles 120.Vehicles 120 may be, for example, any one or more vehicles that areinvolved in a vehicle accident. By way of example, data acquisitionsystem 100 may include a vehicle 120 a and 120 b, which hereafter mayrepresent two vehicles that are involved in a vehicle collision, thedetails of which are to be indicated using GR and/or TR electronicdrawing application 110. Further, each vehicle 120 includes a vehiclecontrol system (VCS) 122. For example, vehicle 120 a includes a VCS 122a and vehicle 120 b includes a VCS 122 b.

Generally, vehicle control systems may be any systems and/or subsystemsthat are installed in a vehicle. Vehicle control systems may include,for example, brake systems, engine systems (e.g., fuel injectionsystems, ignition systems, cooling systems, etc), electrical systems,steering and suspension systems, emission systems, transmission systems,sensor systems, any combinations of components and/or devices that areuseful in a vehicle, and the like.

In one example and referring to FIG. 1, each VCS 122 may include, forexample, an engine control unit or electronic control unit (ECU) 124,which may be an embedded microprocessor that controls one or more of theelectrical systems 126 or subsystems in a vehicle. Any informationrelated to, for example, electrical systems 126 and/or ECU 124 ishereafter referred to as VCS data 128. VCS data 128 may include, forexample, any information of the brake systems, engine systems,electrical systems, steering and suspension systems, emission systems,transmission systems, sensor systems, and the like.

Each VCS 122 may further include an onboard diagnostics (OBD) system,such as an OBD-2 (OBDII) system 130. An OBD system, such as OBDII system130, provides vehicle self-diagnostic and reporting capability. OBDIIsystem 130 provides access to state of health information for variousvehicle systems and subsystems. In particular, OBDII system 130 mayprovide access to ECU 124, which may be a source of information aboutthe systems and subsystems in a vehicle. OBDII system 130 may include anOBDII interface 132 by which external devices may access OBDII system130. OBDII interface 132 utilizes standard connectors and communicationprotocols.

Further, access to each VCS 122 may be achieved via a personal computer(PC) interface 134, such as any wired and/or wireless communicationinterface. In one example, VCS 122 may be connected to onsite computer112 via PC interface 134. Example wired communication interfaces mayinclude, but are not limited to, universal serial bus (USB) ports, RS232connectors, RJ45 connectors, Ethernet, and any combinations thereof.Example wireless communication interfaces may include, but are notlimited to, Bluetooth® technology, Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, IEEE 802.11technology, radio frequency (RF), local (LAN) and wide (WAN) areanetworks, Internet, shared wireless access protocol (SWAP), InfraredData Association (IrDA) compatible protocols and other types of wirelessnetworking protocols, and any combinations thereof.

Each VCS 122 may further include other systems and devices that may beprovided as standard equipment of a vehicle and/or as custom installedequipment. For example, each VCS 122 may include an onboard processingunit 136 and associated memory 138, a global positioning system (GPS)navigation system 140, one or more media capture devices 142, one ormore environmental sensors 144, and one or more other devices 146.

Onboard processing unit 136 may be provided in combination with or inplace of ECU 124. In one example, onboard processing unit 136 may be acustom installed processing unit that may be operating in combinationwith each VCS 122. Memory 138 that may be associated with onboardprocessing unit 136 may be any standard data storage medium.Additionally, an internal timing system (not shown) of onboardprocessing unit 136 and/or ECU 124 may provide date and timeinformation, which is hereafter referred to as timestamp data 148. Inorder to indicate a sequence of events, the rendering of the electronicrepresentation of vehicle operations by GR and/or TR electronic drawingapplication 110 may be based on information at one or more instances intime as indicated in timestamp data 148.

In one example, GPS navigation system 140 is standard equipment in acertain vehicle 120. GPS navigation system 140 may be any locationtracking system that can determine its geographical location to acertain degree of accuracy. For example, GPS navigation system 140 mayinclude a GPS receiver or a global navigation satellite system (GNSS)receiver. A GPS receiver may provide, for example, any standard formatdata stream, such as a National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA)data stream. The data of GPS navigation system 140 is hereafter referredto as geo-location data 150.

In one example, media capture devices 142 are custom installed equipmentin a certain vehicle 120. Media capture devices 142 may be used forcapturing media files 154. Media capture devices 142 may be any mediacapture devices, such as digital cameras, wide angle digital cameras,360 degree digital cameras, infrared (IR) cameras, digital audiorecorders, digital video recorders, and the like. Therefore, theassociated media files 154 may be, for example, digital image files,digital audio files, digital video files, and the like. Media capturedevices 142 may be useful for capturing images and/or audio in theenvironment in which the vehicle is operated and, in particular, may beuseful for capturing images and/or audio at the scene of an accident.

In one example, environmental sensors 144 are custom installed equipmentin a certain vehicle 120. Environmental sensors 144 may include, forexample, a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, and a light sensor. Inone example, the temperature sensor may operate from about −40 C toabout +125 C and the humidity sensor may provide the relative humiditymeasurement (e.g., 0% to 100% humidity). In one example, the lightsensor may be a cadmium sulfide (CdS) photocell. In a vehicleapplication, the ambient temperature, humidity, and light intensity inthe environment in which the vehicle is operated may be captured via thetemperature sensor, the humidity sensor, and the light sensor,respectively. The ability to capture the environment conditions at, forexample, the scene of a vehicle accident may be useful information toinclude in vehicle accident reports and, in particular, for determiningcontributing factors with respect to the possible causes of theaccident. The data of environmental sensors 144 is hereafter referred toas environmental sensor (ES) data 152.

In one example, the other devices 146 are custom installed equipment ina certain vehicle 120. Examples of devices 146 that may be useful ineach VCS 122 may include, but are not limited to, a compass, aninclinometer, and an accelerometer. The compass of devices 146 may beany commercially available electronic and/or mechanical compass forproviding the directional heading of the vehicle in which it isinstalled. The heading means the direction toward which the compass thatis installed in the vehicle is moving, such as north, south, east, west,and any intermediate directions. The heading of the vehicle may beuseful information to GR and/or TR electronic drawing application 110when generating an electronic representation of vehicle operations.

An inclinometer is an instrument for measuring angles of slope (or tilt)or inclination of an object with respect to gravity. The inclinometer ofdevices 146 may be any commercially available inclinometer device. Inone example, the inclinometer may be a multi-axis digital device forsensing the inclination of the vehicle in which it is installed. Inparticular, the inclinometer may be used to detect the current angle ofthe vehicle in relation to both the horizontal and vertical planes. Theangle of the vehicle may be useful information to GR and/or TRelectronic drawing application 110 when generating an electronicrepresentation of vehicle operations.

An accelerometer is a device for measuring acceleration andgravity-induced reaction forces. A multi-axis accelerometer is able todetect magnitude and direction of the acceleration as a vector quantity.The acceleration may be expressed in terms of g-force, which is ameasurement of an object's acceleration. The accelerometer of devices146 may be any commercially available accelerometer device, such as a3-axis accelerometer. In one example, the accelerometer may be utilizedto determine the motion (e.g., rate of movement) of the vehicle as it isutilized. Where the inclinometer may detect the degree of inclinationacross the horizontal and vertical axes, the accelerometer may detectmovement across a third axis (depth). The acceleration and othergravity-induced reaction forces of the vehicle may be useful informationto GR and/or TR electronic drawing application 110 when generating anelectronic representation of vehicle operations. The data of devices 146is hereafter referred to as device data 156.

Each VCS 122 is not limited to one instance only of the above-mentionedtypes of media capture devices 142, environmental sensors 144, and anyother devices 146. Any number of any types of devices that may be usefulin data acquisition system 100 may be included in each VCS 122.

Table 1 shows an example of a sample of information that may be capturedby each VCS 122 of data acquisition system 100 of the presentdisclosure.

TABLE 1 Example data that may be captured within data acquisition system100 VIN (17 Year/make/model characters) Timestamp data 16-MAR-200914:36:27.52 Speed 41 mph Throttle position 31% Break position  0% Gear 4 Driver airbag Not deployed status Passenger airbag Not deployedstatus Geo-location data N39°32.55808, W119°48.75673 (deg. and dec.min.) Temperature data 73 degrees F. Humidity data 30% Light data 30Compass data 248 degrees Inclinometer data −0.23 Accelerometer +0.036,−0.012, +0.025 (x, y, z) data

Referring to Table 1, the timestamp data is an example of information intimestamp data 148; the speed, throttle position, break position, gear,driver airbag status, and passenger airbag status are examples ofinformation in VCS data 128; the geo-location data is an example ofinformation in geo-location data 150; the temperature data, humiditydata, and light data are examples of information in ES data 152; and thecompass data, inclinometer data, and accelerometer data are examples ofinformation in device data 156.

Data acquisition system 100 further includes commercially availableOBDII diagnostic tools. In one example, data acquisition system 100includes an OBDII scanner 160. OBDII scanner 160 may include an OBDIIinterface 162, which may be a counterpart to OBDII interface 132 ofOBDII system 130 of each VCS 122. OBDII scanner 160 may include a PCinterface 164. In one example, OBDII scanner 160 may be connected toonsite computer 112 via PC interface 164. PC interface 164 may be anywired and/or wireless communications interface, such as described withreference to PC interface 134 of each VCS 122. OBDII scanner 160 and/oronsite computer 112 may be used, for example, for reading diagnosticcodes 158 that are generated by ECU 124.

In certain embodiments, certain systems and/or devices within each VCS122 may be standalone devices that have the ability to record and storetheir own data, which may be accessed independent of ECU 124 and/oronboard processing unit 136. For example, electrical systems 126 maygenerate and store locally the VCS data 128, GPS navigation system 140may generate and store locally the geo-location data 150, media capturedevices 142 may generate and store locally the media files 154,environmental sensors 144 may generate and store locally the ES data152, devices 146 may generate and store locally the device data 156, ECU124 may generate and store locally the diagnostic codes 158, and so on.

In other embodiments, certain systems and/or devices within each VCS 122are not standalone devices and, thus, store data in memory 138, whichmay be accessed via ECU 124 and/or onboard processing unit 136. Forexample, VCS data 128 of electrical systems 126, geo-location data 150of GPS navigation system 140, media files 154 of media capture devices142, ES data 152 of environmental sensors 144, device data 156 ofdevices 146, and diagnostic codes 158 of ECU 124 may be stored in memory138.

In the case of any standalone device, in the event of a power failuredue to, for example, damage to the vehicle battery in an accident,certain standalone devices may be self-powered and, thus, may beinterrogated. Alternatively, any devices may be removed from the vehicleand interrogated external to the vehicle.

In either case, a cache of information is available within each VCS 122.Further, each record of data or other information in, for example, VCSdata 128, geo-location data 150, media files 154, ES data 152, devicedata 156 of devices 146, and diagnostic codes 158 is timestamped. As aresult, GR and/or TR electronic drawing application 110 may utilize thisinformation for recreating the operations of a certain vehicle 120 andgenerating an electronic representation of its operation for any momentsin times.

With respect to capturing VCS data 128 of electrical systems 126,geo-location data 150 of GPS navigation system 140, media files 154 ofmedia capture devices 142, ES data 152 of environmental sensors 144,device data 156 of devices 146, and diagnostic codes 158 of ECU 124,information may be captured based on events that are detected in thevehicle, such as the deployment of an airbag and/or a certain g-forcedetected by the accelerometer. Additionally, information may be capturedautomatically at programmed periodic intervals, such as every 100milliseconds, every 500 milliseconds, every 1 second, every 10 seconds,and the like. Further, a certain predefined quantity of VCS data 128,geo-location data 150, media files 154, ES data 152, device data 156,and diagnostic codes 158 may be cached in memory. For example, a rollingcache of, for example, 10 minutes worth of VCS data 128, geo-locationdata 150, media files 154, ES data 152, device data 156, and diagnosticcodes 158 may be stored in memory. This cache of information may belocked in memory, for example, upon ECU 124 sensing the deployment of anairbag, indicating a possible vehicle collision. Additionally, thecapacity of any memory of a certain VCS 122 may be suitably large tostore, for example, a day's or week's worth of data that may be searchedfor any information of interest with respect to any moment in time, suchas the information the corresponds to the time of a vehicle collision.Any information stored in a certain VCS 122 may be accessed, forexample, by onsite computer 112 using PC interface 134.

Because vehicles 120 vary in make, model, and year, the capability oftheir respective vehicle control systems may vary. Therefore, theinformation available may be dependent on the capability of the vehiclecontrol system of any vehicle of interest. In one example, a certainvehicle 120 may include all the capabilities of VCS 122 that is shown inFIG. 1. As a result, a full complement of data is available (e.g., VCSdata 128, geo-location data 150, media files 154, ES data 152, devicedata 156, and diagnostic codes 158) is available for use by GR and/or TRelectronic drawing application 110 when rendering the electronicrepresentation of vehicle operations. In another example, a certainvehicle 120 may include limited capabilities only of VCS 122. Forexample, the VCS 122 may include ECU 124, electrical systems 126, OBDIIsystem 130, and GPS navigation system 140 only. As a result, a limitedamount of data only is available (e.g., VCS data 128, geo-location data150, timestamp data 148, and diagnostic codes 158) is available for useby GR and/or TR electronic drawing application 110 when rendering theelectronic representation of vehicle operations.

In operation, GR and/or TR electronic drawing application 110 provides amechanism for importing a geo-referenced image (not shown) upon whichmay be rendered the electronic representation of vehicle operations,wherein the rendering may occur automatically and/or manually. Theelectronic representation of vehicle operations may be rendered on thegeo-referenced image by reading and analyzing, for example, VCS data128, geo-location data 150, media files 154, ES data 152, device data156, and diagnostic codes 158 that are captured electronically from oneor more vehicles 120, automatically selecting symbols that correspond tothe one or more vehicles from a symbols library, and automaticallymapping the relative and actual positions of the one or more vehicles120 on the geo-referenced image. The rendering of the electronicrepresentation of vehicle operations may occur at one or more instancesin time in order to indicate a sequence of events. Further, GR and/or TRelectronic drawing application 110 may include a mechanism forgenerating reports, such as vehicle accident reports. More details of GRand/or TR electronic drawing application 110 are described withreference to FIG. 2. Examples of electronic representations of vehicleoperations that are rendered on geo-referenced images are shown withreference to FIGS. 3 and 4. An example of an accident report that mayinclude an electronic representation of vehicle operations rendered ongeo-referenced image is shown with reference to FIG. 5.

In certain embodiments, because vehicles 120 may be any year, make, andmodel of vehicle, certain vehicles 120 may have limited VCS capabilityand/or VCS accessibility. Further, certain vehicles 120 may not includecertain or any electrical systems 126, GPS navigation system 140, mediacapture devices 142, environmental sensors 144, and devices 146.Therefore, GR and/or TR electronic drawing application 110 also providesthe capability for a user 114 to manually create an electronicrepresentation of vehicle operations rendered on a geo-referenced image.In one example, the electronic representation of the operations of bothvehicle 120 a and 120 b is rendered automatically on the geo-referencedimage. In another example, the electronic representation of theoperations of vehicle 120 a is rendered automatically on ageo-referenced image, while the electronic representation of theoperations of vehicle 120 b is created manually (in full or in part) byuser 114 on the geo-referenced image. In yet another example, theelectronic representation of the operations of both vehicle 120 a and120 b is created manually (in full or in part) by user 114 on the samegeo-referenced image. Any manual generation may be based on visualobservations at the scene and/or descriptions provide by personsinvolved and/or other witnesses.

Referring to FIG. 2, a functional block diagram of GR and/or TRelectronic drawing application 110 for generating an electronicrepresentation of vehicle operations is presented. GR and/or TRelectronic drawing application 110 may be a standalone and/or anetwork-based software application for importing a geo-referenced imagefor generating an electronic representation of vehicle operationsthereon, thereby indicating the details of, for example, a vehicleaccident.

GR and/or TR electronic drawing application 110 may include, forexample, a data processing algorithm 210 and have access to memory 212.Data processing algorithm 210 may be stored on memory 212 or anothermemory and include program instructions executable on a processing unit.Memory 212 may be any standard data storage medium. In one example, asymbols library 214, a collection of input images 216, certain VCS data128, certain geo-location data 150, certain media files 154, certain ESdata 152, certain device data 156, and diagnostic codes 158 may bestored in memory 212.

Symbols library 214 and input images 216 may be used to support thedrawing functions of GR and/or TR electronic drawing application 110.Certain VCS data 128, geo-location data 150, media files 154, ES data152, device data 156, and diagnostic codes 158 may be analyzed by dataprocessing algorithm 210 for automatically generating an event-specificelectronic representation of vehicle operations. Additionally, GR and/orTR electronic drawing application 110 allows a user to import ageo-referenced image and manually mark up the image with symbols and/orany other markings for indicating the details of the vehicle accident.

A drawing tool graphical user interface (GUI) 222 is associated with GRand/or TR electronic drawing application 110 for viewing the electronicrepresentation of vehicle operations that may be generated automaticallyand/or manually. Drawing tool GUI 222 is suitable for presenting on thedisplay of any computing device, such as onsite computer 112. By readinggeographic location information from geo-location data 150 and/or byprocessing geographic location information that may be manually entered,data processing algorithm 210 retrieves a certain input image 216 thatcorresponds to the geographic location information and displays theinput image 216 in a window of drawing tool GUI 222. Geographic locationinformation may be, for example, a physical address, latitude andlongitude coordinates, and/or any GPS data.

For purposes of the present disclosure, an input image 216 is any imagerepresented by source data that is electronically processed (e.g., thesource data is in a computer-readable format) to display the image on adisplay device. An input image 216 may include any of a variety ofpaper/tangible image sources that are scanned (e.g., via an electronicscanner) or otherwise converted so as to create source data (e.g., invarious formats such as XML, PDF, JPG, BMP, etc.) that can be processedto display the input image 216. An input image 216 also may include animage that originates as source data or an electronic file withoutnecessarily having a corresponding paper/tangible copy of the image(e.g., an image of a “real-world” scene acquired by a digital stillframe or video camera or other image acquisition device, in which thesource data, at least in part, represents pixel information from theimage acquisition device).

In some exemplary implementations, input images 216 according to thepresent disclosure may be created, provided, and/or processed by ageographic information system (GIS) that captures, stores, analyzes,manages and presents data referring to (or linked to) location, suchthat the source data representing the input image 216 includes pixelinformation from an image acquisition device (corresponding to anacquired “real world” scene or representation thereof), and/orspatial/geographic information (“geo-encoded information”).

In some exemplary implementations, one or more input images 216 may bestored in local memory 212 of the onsite computer 112 and/or retrievedfrom an optional remote computer and then stored in local memory.Various information may be derived from the one or more input images fordisplay (e.g., all or a portion of the input image, metadata associatedwith the input image, etc.).

In view of the foregoing, various examples of input images and sourcedata representing input images 216 according to the present disclosure,to which the inventive concepts disclosed herein may be applied, includebut are not limited to:

-   -   Various maps, such as street/road maps (e.g., map 800 of FIG.        8), topographical maps, military maps, parcel maps, tax maps,        town and county planning maps, virtual maps, etc. (such maps may        or may not include geo-encoded information). Such maps may be        scaled to a level appropriate for the application;    -   Architectural, construction and/or engineering drawings and        virtual renditions of a space/geographic area (including “as        built” or post-construction drawings). Such drawings/renditions        may be useful, e.g., in property damage report applications or        for documenting construction, landscaping or maintenance. An        exemplary construction/engineering drawing 900 is shown in FIG.        9;    -   Land surveys, i.e., plots produced at ground level using        references to known points such as the center line of a street        to plot the metes and bounds and related location data regarding        a building, parcel, utility, roadway, or other object or        installation. Land survey images may be useful, e.g., in        vehicular incident report applications or police report        applications. FIG. 10 shows an exemplary land survey map 1000;    -   A grid (a pattern of horizontal and vertical lines used as a        reference) to provide representational geographic information        (which may be used “as is” for an input image or as an overlay        for an acquired “real world” scene, drawing, map, etc.). An        exemplary grid 1100, overlaid on construction/engineering        drawing 900, is shown in FIG. 11. It should be appreciated that        the grid 1100 may itself serve as the input image (i.e., a        “bare” grid), or be used together with another underlying input        image;    -   “Bare” data representing geo-encoded information (geographical        data points) and not necessarily derived from an        acquired/captured real-world scene (e.g., not pixel information        from a digital camera or other digital image acquisition        device). Such “bare” data may be nonetheless used to construct a        displayed input image, and may be in any of a variety of        computer-readable formats, including XML).    -   One example of bare data is geo-referenced data relating to        municipal assets. Databases exist that include geo-location        information (e.g., latitude and longitude coordinates) and        attribute information (e.g., sign type) for municipal assets        such as signs, crash attenuators, parking meters, barricades,        and guardrails. Such a database may be used in connection with        an asset management system, such as the Infor EAM (Enterprise        Asset Management) system by Infor Global Solutions of        Alpharetta, Ga., to manage municipal assets. Using bare data        relating to municipal assets, a geo-encoded image may be        constructed that includes representations of municipal assets at        their relative locations. In particular, the attribute        information may be used to select a symbol representing the        asset in the image, and the geo-location information may be used        to determine the placement of the symbol in the image.    -   Other examples of bare data are geo-referenced data relating to        weather and geo-referenced data relating to traffic. Both        weather and traffic data are available from various sources in        Geographic Information System (GIS) format. For example, a set        of points, lines, and/or regions in a spatial database may        represent locations or areas having a particular traffic        attribute (e.g., heavy traffic, construction, moderate        congestion, minor stall, normal speeds) or a particular weather        attribute (e.g., heavy snow, rain, hail, fog, lightning, clear        skies). The data in the database may be dynamic, such that the        points, lines, and/or regions and corresponding attributes        change as the traffic and weather conditions change. Using bare        data relating to traffic and/or weather, a geo-encoded image may        be constructed that includes representations of traffic and/or        weather conditions at their relative locations. In particular,        the attribute information may be used to select a symbol,        pattern, and/or color representing the traffic or weather        condition in the image, and the geo-location information may be        used to determine the placement of the symbol, pattern and/or        color in the image. An example of a source for GIS traffic data        is NAVIGATOR, the Georgia Department of Transportation's        Intelligent Transportation System (ITS). GIS weather data is        available from the National Weather Service (NWS). Such weather        data may be provided as shapefiles, which is a format for        storing geographic information and associated attribute        information. Shapefiles may include information relating to        weather warnings (e.g., tornado, severe thunderstorm, and flash        flood warnings) and the like.    -   FIG. 15 shows an example of an input image 1500 constructed from        bare data. In particular, input image 1500 includes a        representation of a street sign 1510, representations of traffic        conditions 1512 and 1514, and a representation of a weather        condition 1516. The location of the street sign representation        1510 and traffic condition representations 1512 and 1514 may        correspond to the actual locations of the street signs and        traffic conditions in the region shown in the input image 1500.        The location of the representation of the weather condition 1516        may be arbitrarily selected, or selected to be in a corner of        the input image 1500, as the representation may indicate that        the weather condition corresponds generally to the entire region        shown in the input image 1500. Each of the representations shown        in FIG. 15 is based on geo-location information (e.g., latitude        and longitude coordinates) and attribute information (e.g., a        sign type, traffic conditions, and a weather condition). In the        example shown, the type of street sign 1510 is a stop sign, the        traffic conditions 1512 and 1514 are “construction” and “light        traffic,” and the weather condition 1516 is lightning; and    -   Photographic renderings/images, including street level (see        e.g., street level image 1200 of FIG. 12), topographical,        satellite, and aerial photographic renderings/images, any of        which may be updated periodically to capture changes in a given        geographic area over time (e.g., seasonal changes such as        foliage density, which may variably impact the ability to see        some aspects of the image). Such photographic renderings/images        may be useful, e.g., in connection with preparing property        damage reports, vehicular incident reports, police reports, etc.

It should also be appreciated that source data representing an inputimage 216 may be compiled from multiple data/information sources; forexample, any two or more of the examples provided above for input imagesand source data representing input images 216, or any two or more otherdata sources, can provide information that can be combined or integratedto form source data that is electronically processed to display an imageon a display device.

Referring to FIG. 3, an example of a drawing tool GUI of GR and/or TRelectronic drawing application 110 is presented. In the case of aweb-based application, drawing tool GUI 222 that may be implemented, forexample, by a web browser that is presented via any networked computingdevice. In the case of a standalone application, drawing tool GUI 222that may be implemented, for example, by a GUI window that is presentedvia any computing device.

Drawing tool GUI 222 may present a certain input image 216 thatcorresponds to specified geographic location information. For example,location information from geo-location data 150 may be automaticallyread into an address field 310 and/or a geo-location data field 312.Alternatively, location information may be manually entered in addressfield 310 and/or geo-location data field 312. In one example, inputimage 216 may be an aerial image that corresponds to the geographiclocation information. Overlaying input image 216 may be an image scale314. Input image 216 is read into drawing tool GUI 222 and may beoriented in the proper manner with respect to directional heading (i.e.,north, south, east, and west).

Drawing tool GUI 222 may also include various palettes, toolbars, orother interfaces that enable the user to manipulate (e.g., zoom in, zoomout) and/or mark up input image 216. For example, drawing tool GUI 222may include a drawing toolbar 316 that may include a sketching paletteas well as a symbols palette. The sketching palette portion of drawingtoolbar 316 may provide standard drawing tools that allow a user to drawcertain shapes (e.g., a polygon, a rectangle, a circle, a line) atopinput image 216. The symbols palette portion of drawing toolbar 316provides a collection of any symbols that may be useful for depictingthe event of interest, such as a vehicle accident. The source of thesesymbols may be symbols library 214. For example, symbols library 214 mayinclude, but is not limited to, a collection of car symbols, trucksymbols, other vehicle symbols (e.g., emergency vehicles, buses, farmequipment, 3-wheel vehicles, etc), landmark symbols (e.g., firehydrants, trees, fences, poles, various barriers, etc), symbols of signs(e.g., standard road signs, any other signs, etc), symbols ofpedestrians, symbols of animals, and the like.

Optionally, the drawing tool GUI 222 may allow a user to specify aconfidence level for a selected symbol. For example, if a user selects asymbol corresponding to a bus to be overlaid on input image 216, theuser may specify an associated confidence level to indicate a degree ofconfidence that the observed vehicle was a bus. The confidence level maybe numeric, e.g., “25%,” or descriptive, e.g., “low.” An indication ofthe confidence level or a degree of uncertainty may be displayedadjacent the corresponding symbol or may be integrated with the symbolitself. For example, a question mark or the confidence level may bedisplayed on or near the symbol. Additionally or alternatively, anindication of the confidence level may be included in the text of avehicle accident report including the marked up input image.

By use of the elements of drawing toolbar 316, a user may manually markup input image 216 in a manner that depicts, for example, the vehicleaccident scene. In one example and referring to FIG. 3, a vehiclecollision is depicted by a vehicle #1 and a vehicle #2 overlaid on inputimage 216. The symbols for vehicle #1 and vehicle #2 are selected fromthe symbols palette portion of drawing toolbar 316. In this example, anevent-specific electronic representation of vehicle operations withrespect to a two-vehicle collision is manually rendered.

Additionally, data processing algorithm 210 reads VCS data 128,geo-location data 150, media files 154, ES data 152, device data 156,and diagnostic codes 158 of vehicle #1 and vehicle #2 and automaticallyrenders an event-specific electronic representation of vehicleoperations with respect to a two-vehicle collision. For example, theyear, make, and model of vehicle #1 and vehicle #2 may be automaticallydetermined from the vehicle identification numbers (VIN) thereof and thecorresponding vehicle symbols may be automatically selected from symbolslibrary 214. Then, for a certain point in time, the relative and actualpositions of vehicle #1 and vehicle #2 are determined from theassociated VCS data 128, device data 156, media files 154, and/ordiagnostic codes 158 and vehicle #1 and vehicle #2 are automaticallymapped to and oriented on the selected input image 216.

Additionally, GR and/or TR electronic drawing application 110 may bedesigned to automatically render symbols to scale upon thegeo-referenced drawing according to the settings of scale 314. This isone example of how GR and/or TR electronic drawing application 110 mayprovide consistent accuracy to drawings that support incident reports.Further, the presence of a standard symbols library, such as symbolslibrary 214, is one example of how GR and/or TR electronic drawingapplication 110 provides standardization to drawings that supportincident reports.

The GR and/or TR electronic drawing application 110 may be configured toallow the viewing angle or perspective of the input image 216 and/orrepresentations thereon to be changed. For example, a user may switchbetween an overhead view, a perspective view, and a side view. This maybe accomplished by correlating corresponding points in two or moregeo-referenced images, for example. A symbol, such as a representationof a vehicle, or other content-related marking added to an image mayhave three-dimensional data associated therewith to enable the symbol tobe viewed from different angles. Thus, while a viewing angle orperspective of an image may change, its content (e.g., a representationof a vehicle accident and its surrounding) may remain the same.

Further, the GR and/or TR electronic drawing application 110 may beconfigured to allow the input image 216 to be manually or automaticallymodified. For example, it may be desirable to remove extraneousfeatures, such as cars, from the input image 126. The GR and/or TRelectronic drawing application 110 may include shape or objectrecognition software that allows such features to be identified and/orremoved. One example of software capable of recognizing features in animage, such as an aerial image, is ENVI® image processing and analysissoftware by ITT Corporation of White Plains, N.Y. Exemplary featuresthat may be recognized include vehicles, buildings, roads, bridges,rivers, lakes, and fields. The GR and/or TR electronic drawingapplication 110 may be configured such that a value indicating a levelof confidence that an identified object corresponds to a particularfeature may optionally be displayed. Automatically identified featuresmay be automatically modified in the image in some manner. For example,the features may be blurred or colored (e.g., white, black or toresemble a color of one or more pixels adjacent the feature).Additionally, or alternatively, the GR and/or TR electronic drawingapplication 110 may include drawing tools (e.g., an eraser tool or copyand paste tool), that allow such features to be removed, concealed, orotherwise modified after being visually recognized by a user orautomatically recognized by the GR and/or TR electronic drawingapplication 110 or associated software.

Drawing toolbar 316 may also allow the user to add text boxes that canbe used to add textual content to input image 216. In one example,callouts 318 and a notes window 324 may be one mechanism for enteringand/or displaying textual information about, in this example, thevehicle collision. Additionally, that source of the textual informationin callouts 318 and/or notes window 324 may be automatically generatedfrom information in the associated VCS data 128, device data 156, mediafiles 154, and/or diagnostic codes 158. In one example, textualinformation that may be automatically populated in a certain callout 318may be 16 Mar. 2009; 14:36:28.07; 18 mpg; heading 245°; N39°32.55801,W119°48.75716; 30% humidity; 73° F.; daylight, and the like.

Further, drawing tool GUI 222 may include a navigation toolbar 320 bywhich the user may zoom or pan input image 216 (e.g., zoom in, zoom out,zoom to, pan, pan left, pan right, pan up, pan down, etc.). Navigationtoolbar 320 may additionally include one or more buttons that enableuser drawn shapes to be accentuated (e.g., grayscale, transparency,etc.). Additionally, a set of scroll controls 322 may be provided in theimage display window that allows the user to scroll input image 216north, south, east, west, and so on with respect to real worlddirectional heading.

Overlaying input image 216 may also be a timestamp 326 and/or a locationstamp 350. Timestamp 326 may indicate the creation date and/or time ofthe resulting event-specific image 226 and/or a modification date and/ortime of the event-specific image 226. Date and time information ofonsite computer 112 (e.g., from a timer device) may be the source ofinformation of timestamp 326. Location stamp 350 may indicate thelocation (e.g., city and state, zip code and/or geographic coordinates)where the event-specific image 226 was created or modified. Geo-locationdata relating to the location of onsite computer 112 (e.g., data from aGPS device local to or in the vicinity of the onsite computer) may bethe source of information of location stamp 350.

The timestamp 326 and location stamp 350 may be difficult or impossiblefor a user to modify. Thus, the timestamp and location stamp may be usedto verify that at least a portion of the event-specific image 226 withwhich they are associated was created at an expected time and place,such as the general or specific time and place where the vehicularaccident was investigated. If desired, time and/or location data may beautomatically acquired several times during the creation of one or moreevent-specific images 226, and may be stored in association with theimages, to enable verification that the user was present at the timeand/or place of the investigation for some duration of time.

In some embodiments, the input image data and the mark up data (e.g.,the electronic representations of the vehicles, landmarks and/or signs),may be displayed as separate “layers” of the visual rendering, such thata viewer of the visual rendering may turn on and turn off displayed databased on a categorization of the displayed data. Respective layers maybe enabled or disabled for display in any of a variety of manners.According to one exemplary implementation shown in FIG. 14, a “layerdirectory” or “layer legend” pane 1400 may be rendered in the viewingwindow of drawing tool GUI 222 described in connection with FIG. 2. Thelayer directory pane 1400 may show all available layers, and allow aviewer to select each available layer to be either displayed or hidden,thus facilitating comparative viewing of layers. The layer directorypane 1400 may be displayed by selecting a “display layer directory pane”action item in the layers menu 1402.

In the example of FIG. 14, image information is categorized generallyunder layer designation 1402 (“reference layer”) and may beindependently enabled or disabled for display (e.g., hidden) byselecting the corresponding check box. Similarly, information availableto be overlaid on the input image is categorized generally under layerdesignation 1406 (“symbols layer”) and may be independently enabled ordisabled for display by selecting the corresponding check box.

The reference layer and symbols layers may have sub-categories forsub-layers, such that each sub-layer may also be selectively enabled ordisabled for viewing by a viewer. For example, under the general layerdesignation 1402 of “reference layer,” a “base image” 1404 sub-layer maybe selected for display. The base image sub-layer is merely one exampleof a sub-layer that may be included under the “reference layer,” asother sub-layers (e.g., “grid”) are possible. Under the general layerdesignation 1406 of “symbols layer,” different symbol types that may beoverlaid on the input image may be categorized under different sub-layerdesignations (e.g., designation 1408 for “cars layer;” designation 1412for “trucks layer;” designation 1416 for “other vehicles layer;”designation 1418 for “landmarks layer;” and designation 1420 for “signslayer”). In this manner, a viewer may be able to display certain symbolsinformation (e.g., concerning cars and trucks), while hiding othersymbols information (e.g., concerning other vehicles, landmarks andsigns).

Further, the various sub-layers may have further sub-categories forsub-layers, such that particular features within a sub-layer may also beselectively enabled or disabled for viewing by a viewer. For example,the cars layer may include a designation 1410 for “car 1,” and the trucklayer may include a designation 1414 for “truck 1.” Thus, informationconcerning the car 1422 (“car 1”) and truck 1424 (“truck 1”) involved inthe accident can be selected for display.

As shown in the example of FIG. 14, both the reference and symbolslayers are enabled for display. Under the reference layer, the baseimage layer is enabled for display. Amongst the symbols layersub-layers, only the cars layer and the trucks layer are enabled fordisplay. Amongst these sub-layers, the further sub-layers “car 1” and“truck 1” are enabled for display. Accordingly, a base image is renderedin the viewing window of drawing tool GUI 222, and only car 1422 andtruck 1424 are rendered thereon.

Virtually any characteristic of the information available for displaymay serve to categorize the information for purposes of display layersor sub-layers. In particular, any of the various exemplary elements thatmay be rendered using the drawing tool GUI 222 discussed herein (e.g.,timestamps; scales; callouts; estimated time information; input imagecontent; symbols relating to vehicles, landmarks, signs, people, animalsor the like, etc.) may be categorized as a sub-layer, and one or moresub-layers may further be categorized into constituent elements forselective display (e.g., as sub-sub-layers). According to one example, alayer may be defined to include only imagery from cameras and/or videodevices, with sub-layers corresponding to imagery derived from thecameras and/or video devices of particular vehicles.

Further, layers may be based on user-defined attributes of symbols orother rendered features. For example, a layer may be based on the speedof vehicles, whether vehicles were involved in the accident, whether thevehicles are public service vehicles, the location of vehicles at aparticular time, and so on. For example, a user may define particularvehicle symbols as having corresponding speeds, and a “moving vehicleslayer” may be selected to enable the display of vehicles having non-zerospeeds. Additionally or alternatively, selecting the moving vehicleslayer may cause information concerning the speed of the moving vehiclesto be displayed. For example, text indicating a speed of 15 mph may bedisplayed adjacent a corresponding vehicle. Similarly, a user may defineparticular vehicle symbols as being involved in the accident, and an“accident vehicles layer” may be selected to enable the display ofvehicles involved in the accident. Additionally or alternatively,selecting the accident vehicles layer may cause information identifyingaccident vehicles to be displayed. For example, an icon indicative of anaccident vehicle may be displayed adjacent a corresponding vehicle. The“moving vehicles layer” and the “accident vehicles” layer may besub-layers under the symbols layer, or may be sub-layers under a“vehicle layer” (not shown), which itself is a sub-layer under thesymbols layer. Further, the “moving vehicles layer” and the “accidentvehicles layer” may in turn include sub-layers. For example, the “movingvehicles layer” may include a sub-layer to enable the display of allvehicles traveling east. From the foregoing, it may be appreciated thata wide variety of information may be categorized in a nested hierarchyof layers, and information included in the layers may be visuallyrendered, when selected/enabled for display, in a variety of manners.

Other attributes of symbols or other rendered features may also be usedas the basis for defining layers. For example, the user-determinedand/or automatically determined confidence levels of respective symbols,as discussed herein, may be used as the basis for defining layers.According to one illustrative example, a layer may be defined to includeonly those symbols that have an associated user-determined and/orautomatically determined confidence level of at least some percentage,e.g., 50%. The information concerning the confidence levels associatedwith the symbols may be drawn from a report in which such levels areincluded.

It should further be appreciated that, according to various embodiments,the attributes and/or type of visual information displayed as a resultof selecting one or more layers or sub-layers is not limited. Inparticular, visual information corresponding to a selected layer orsub-layer may be electronically rendered in the form of one or morelines or shapes (of various colors, shadings and/or line types), text,graphics (e.g., symbols or icons), and/or images, for example. Likewise,the visual information corresponding to a selected layer or sub-layermay include multiple forms of visual information (one or more of lines,shapes, text, graphics and/or images).

In yet other embodiments, all of the symbols and/or other overlaidinformation of a particular marked up input image may be categorized asa display layer, such that the overlaid information may be selectivelyenabled or disabled for display as a display layer. In this manner, auser may conveniently toggle between the display of various relatedmarked up input images (e.g., marked up input images relating to thesame accident or other event) for comparative display. In particular, auser may toggle between scenes depicting the events of an accident atdifferent times.

It should be appreciated that a layer need not include a singularcategory of symbols or overlaid information, and may be customizedaccording to a user's preferences. For example, a user may selectparticular features in one or more marked up input images that the userwould like to enable to be displayed collectively as a layer.Additionally or alternatively, the user may select a plurality ofcategories of features that the user would like to enable to bedisplayed collectively as a layer.

In some embodiments, data processing algorithm 210 (FIG. 2) mayautomatically select which layers are displayed or hidden. As anexample, if a user depicts a truck in the accident scene using a trucksymbol, data processing algorithm 210 may automatically select the“truck layer” sub-layer and the “truck 1” sub-sub layer for display inthe display field. As another example, if a user specifies or selectslandmarks to be displayed, data processing algorithm 210 mayautomatically select the base image to be hidden to provide anuncluttered depiction of an accident scene. The foregoing are merelyillustrative examples of automatic selection/enabling of layers, and theinventive concepts discussed herein are not limited in these respects.

The ability to manually and/or automatically render an event-specificelectronic representation of vehicle operations with respect to, forexample, a vehicle accident using real world geo-referenced images, suchas input images 216, is one example of how GR and/or TR electronicdrawing application 110 provides improved and consistent accuracy todrawings that support incident reports.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, when the manual and/or automatic renderingof the event-specific electronic representation of, for example, avehicle accident is completed, the marked up input image 216 may besaved as an event-specific image 226. For example, during the saveoperation of GR and/or TR electronic drawing application 110, anyevent-specific images 226 created therein may be converted to anystandard digital image file format, such as PDF, JPG, and BMP fileformat, and saved, for example, in memory 212 or to an associated filesystem (not shown). In some cases, it may be beneficial for the userand/or data processing algorithm 210 to generate multiple event-specificimages 226 in order to depict, for example, more details of how avehicle accident occurred by depicting the vehicles at different momentsin time. The multiple event-specific images 226 may be associated to oneanother via, for example, respective descriptor files 228 and saved asan image series 230. An example of an image series 230 is shown withreference to FIG. 4.

Each descriptor file 228 includes information about each event-specificimage 226 of an image series 230. Using the example of a vehicleaccident report, each descriptor file 228 may include the accidentreport number, the name of the event-specific image 226 with respect tothe image series 230, the creation date and time, and the like.Descriptor files 228 provide a mechanism of GR and/or TR electronicdrawing application 110 that allow event-specific images 226 and/or anyimage series 230 to be queried by other applications, such as anyincident management applications. In one example, descriptor files 228may be extensible markup language (XML) files that are created duringthe save process of event-specific images 226 and/or image series 230.

Referring to FIG. 3, because vehicles may be any year, make, and model,certain vehicles may have limited VCS capability and/or VCSaccessibility and may not include certain or any electrical systems 126,GPS navigation system 140, media capture devices 142, environmentalsensors 144, and devices 146. Therefore, GR and/or TR electronic drawingapplication 110 provides the capability for a user 114 to manuallycreate an electronic representation of vehicle operations rendered on ageo-referenced image. In one example, the electronic representation ofthe operations of both vehicle #1 and vehicle #2 is renderedautomatically on the selected input image 216. In another example, theelectronic representation of the operations of vehicle #1 is renderedautomatically on selected input image 216, while the electronicrepresentation of the operations of vehicle #2 is rendered manually onthe selected input image 216. In yet another example, the electronicrepresentation of the operations of both vehicle #1 and vehicle #2 isrendered manually on the selected input image 216.

Referring to FIG. 4, an example of a series of geo-referenced and/ortime-referenced drawings that are manually and/or automaticallygenerated using GR and/or TR electronic drawing application 110 ispresented. FIG. 4 shows an example of an image series 230 that depictstime-lapsed sequential images of, for example, a vehicle collision(i.e., essentially representing time-lapsed frames 1, 2, and 3 insequence). In this example, three records of data from vehicle #1 andvehicle #2 as shown in Tables 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, and 4B are analyzed bydata processing algorithm 210 to generate multiple event-specific images226 in order to depict the details of the vehicle accident occurred bydepicting the relative and actual positions of both vehicles at threemoments in time.

In this example, the timestamp information may reflect the actual timeof the vehicle events and may also reflect a relative time from oneframe to the next. For example, if frame 2 (event-specific image 226B)indicates the actual moment of impact, frame 1 (event-specific image226A) may indicate vehicle #1 and vehicle #2 about a half second priorto the moment of impact and frame 3 (event-specific image 226C) mayindicate vehicle #1 and vehicle #2 about a half second after the momentof impact.

FIG. 4 also shows an example of graphically depicting certaininformation of interest that may be provided by VCS 122. In one example,frame 2 (event-specific image 226B) shows a plot of break data withrespect to vehicle #1. For example, frame 2 shows that the breaks ofvehicle #1 were applied from a time t1 to a time t2. Similarly, frame 3shows that the breaks of vehicle #2 were applied from a time t3 to atime t4. This breaking information is extracted from, for example, VCSdata 128, wherein each record of data in VCS data 128 is timestamped.

Other information of interest may also be graphically depicted on theevent-specific images 226. For example, data from a camera and/or videodevice may be displayed. Such a camera and/or video device may storeimage data continuously, but may discard data that is not proximate intime to an event of interest (e.g., within 10 seconds of a suddendeceleration). In event-specific image 226A of FIG. 4, an image 402 froma camera and/or video device directed toward the interior of vehicle #1is displayed in connection with vehicle #1. The image 402 shows theinterior and driver of the vehicle at the time of the events depicted inevent-specific image 226A. While image 402 shows a view of the interiorof the vehicle, a camera and/or video device may also or alternativelybe used to capture views of the exterior of the vehicle, such as theviews through the windshield and rear window. Further, while an image isonly shown in connection with vehicle #1 in event-specific image 226A,it should be appreciated that image data may be continuously acquiredfor one or both vehicles shown, such that images may be displayed inconnection with one or both vehicles in each of event-specific images226A-C.

The camera and/or video device from which the image data used togenerate image 402 is derived may include or be associated with devicesthat may be used to provide further information relating to acquiredimage data, For example, a GPS device, a timer or clock device, acompass, an accelerometer and/or a speedometer may be integrated intothe camera and/or video device or otherwise associated therewith. Forexample, such devices may be part of the same vehicle control system. InFIG. 4, image 402 is displayed in connection with an event-specificimage that depicts events occurring at the same time that the datacorresponding to image 402 was acquired. Data from a timer or clockdevice may be used to identify a time of image 402. Location data and/ordirection information may be used to correlate an image, such as image402, to a particular geographic location, so that the image orassociated features may be displayed in connection with anevent-specific image in a location corresponding at least approximatelyto a location where the data for the image was acquired or a locationdepicted in the image. In FIG. 4, the arrow associated with image 402points to a location corresponding to where the image data was acquired.The arrow points in a direction corresponding to a direction in whichthe camera and/or video device was oriented when the image data wasacquired. The location and direction information may be respectivelyderived from a GPS device and a compass device. Compass data may also beused to orient an overlaid image or an underlying input image to depictan image or scene from a particular point of view (e.g., the point ofview of the driver of vehicle #1). Data from an accelerometer and/or aspeedometer may be used to determine image data of potential interestfor display and/or storage. For example, it may only be desirable todisplay image data in connection with a vehicle when an event ofinterest, such a sudden deceleration or stoppage, occurs.

Rather than being directly rendered as an image, image data from acamera and/or video device may be processed to extract information ofinterest, and such information may be conveyed visually in anevent-specific image. For example, image or video data may be processedto extract information concerning a driver's eye movements. A graph,numeric data, or other information relating to the driver's eyemovements may be displayed in one or more event-specific images. Suchinformation may additionally or alternatively be integrated into anelectronic report of a vehicular incident, such as reports 232 of FIG.2.

Although the examples above are described in connection withevent-specific images 226, which may be static images, it should beappreciated that images, video streams and/or information derived fromimage data may be displayed in a dynamic manner in connection with amovie style presentation comprising a series of event-specific images226 or other time-based image data. For example, in a movie stylepresentation, imagery captured by a video device associated with avehicle may be displayed in connection with the vehicle at the same rateat which the events involving the vehicle are depicted. Similarly, dataderived from imagery captured by a video device (e.g., a stream of datadepicting a driver's eye movements) may be displayed at the same rate atwhich the events involving the vehicle are depicted. As discussed above,data from a GPS device, a timer or clock device, a compass, anaccelerometer and/or a speedometer may be used to determine where, whenand/or how video data is rendered in connection with a movie stylepresentation. Further, the above-described movie-style presentation maybe interactive such that imagery or other data associated with a vehicle(e.g., a imagery showing the view from the driver's seat) is displayedwhen a user “mouses over” the vehicle or otherwise indicates a desire toview the imagery or other data.

Tables 2A and 2B show an example of a record of electronic vehicleinformation of vehicle #1 and vehicle #2, respectively, at a first andsubstantially same moment in time. In this example, frame 1 of FIG. 4 isrepresented by an event-specific image 226A that electronicallyrepresents the information of Tables 2A and 2B by depicting vehicle #1heading westbound and vehicle #2 heading eastbound, just prior to thecollision.

TABLE 2A Vehicle #1 record of data at first moment in time VIN (17characters) 2005/Chevrolet/Malibu Timestamp data 16-MAR-2009 14:36:27.52Speed 41 mph Throttle position 31% Break position  0% Gear  4 Driverairbag status Not deployed Passenger airbag status Not deployedGeo-location data N39°32.55808, W119°48.75673 (deg. and dec. min.)Temperature data 73 degrees F. Humidity data 30% Light data 30 Compassdata 248 degrees Inclinometer data −0.23 Accelerometer data +0.036,−0.012, +0.025 (x, y, z)

TABLE 2B Vehicle #2 record of data at first moment in time VIN (17characters) 2002/Jeep/Comanche Timestamp data 16-MAR-2009 14:36:27.52Speed 32 mph Throttle position 36% Break position  0% Gear  4 Driverairbag status Not deployed Passenger airbag status Not deployedGeo-location data N39°32.55784, W119°48.75764 (deg. and dec. min.)Temperature data 73 degrees F. Humidity data 30% Light data 30 Compassdata 67 degrees Inclinometer data +0.25 Accelerometer data −0.028,+0.017, +0.015 (x, y, z)

Tables 3A and 3B show an example of a record of electronic vehicleinformation of vehicle #1 and vehicle #2, respectively, at a second andsubstantially same moment in time. In this example, frame 2 of FIG. 4 isrepresented by an event-specific image 226B that electronicallyrepresents the information of Tables 3A and 3B by depicting vehicle #1and vehicle #2 at the moment of impact during the collision.

TABLE 3A Vehicle #1 record of data at second moment in time VIN (17characters) 2005/Chevrolet/Malibu Timestamp data 16-MAR-2009 14:36:28.07Speed 18 mph Throttle position  0% Break position 92% Gear  2 Driverairbag status Not deployed Passenger airbag status Not deployedGeo-location data N39°32.55801, W119°48.75716 (deg. and dec. min.)Temperature data 73 degrees F. Humidity data 30% Light data 30 Compassdata 245 degrees Inclinometer data −0.23 Accelerometer data +0.036,−0.237, +0.025 (x, y, z)

TABLE 3B Vehicle #2 record of data at second moment in time VIN (17characters) 2002/Jeep/Comanche Timestamp data 16-MAR-2009 14:36:28.07Speed 12 mph Throttle position 12% Break position 24% Gear  2 Driverairbag status Not deployed Passenger airbag status Not deployedGeo-location data N39°32.55807, W119°48.75708 (deg. and dec. min.)Temperature data 73 degrees F. Humidity data 30% Light data 30 Compassdata 13 degrees Inclinometer data +0.25 Accelerometer data −0.153,−0.198, +0.015 (x, y, z)

Tables 4A and 4B show an example of a record of electronic vehicleinformation of vehicle #1 and vehicle #2, respectively, at a third andsubstantially same moment in time. In this example, frame 3 of FIG. 4 isrepresented by an event-specific image 226C that electronicallyrepresents the information of Tables 3A and 3B by depicting the finalresting place of vehicle #1 and vehicle #2 after the collision.

TABLE 4A Vehicle #1 record of data at third moment in time VIN (17characters) 2005/Chevrolet/Malibu Timestamp data 16-MAR-2009 14:36:28.62Speed 0 mph Throttle position  0% Break position  0% Gear P Driverairbag status Not deployed Passenger airbag status Not deployedGeo-location data N39°32.55811, W119°48.75720 (deg. and dec. min.)Temperature data 73 degrees F. Humidity data 30% Light data 30 Compassdata 239 degrees Inclinometer data −0.23 Accelerometer data ±0.000,±0.000, ±0.000 (x, y, z)

TABLE 4B Vehicle #2 record of data at third moment in time VIN (17characters) 2002/Jeep/Comanche Timestamp data 16-MAR-2009 14:36:28.62Speed 0 mph Throttle position 00% Break position  0% Gear P Driverairbag status Not deployed Passenger airbag status Not deployedGeo-location data N39°32.55811, W119°48.75702 (deg. and dec. min.)Temperature data 73 degrees F. Humidity data 30% Light data 30 Compassdata 78 degrees Inclinometer data +0.25 Accelerometer data ±0.000,±0.000, ±0.000 (x, y, z)

Referring again to FIG. 4, image series 230, which may be generated frominformation in Tables 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, and 4B, shows a series ofevent-specific images 226 that represent three instances in time, spaceda fraction of a second apart, such as about a half a second apart. Thisrepresentation is exemplary only, GR and/or TR electronic drawingapplication 110 may generate any number of event-specific images 226from information of one or more vehicles 120 at any instances in timeand spaced by any increment in time. In doing so, the electronicrepresentation of vehicle operations may be provided in a slideshowand/or a 2-dimensional and/or 3-dimensional movie style of presentation,which may depict in time-lapsed fashion the actual events leading up tothe collision, the actual events at the moment of the collision, and theactual events just after the collision.

Additionally, because input images 216 that are used by GR and/or TRelectronic drawing application 110 are geo-referenced and becausegeo-location data of vehicles 120 is available, other useful informationmay be determined and graphically indicated on the resultingevent-specific images 226. For example, offset distances from landmarksmay be automatically calculated. In one example and referring again toFIG. 4, the distance between vehicle #1 and/or vehicle #2 and anylandmark, such as the nearest curb, tree, pole, fire hydrant, and/orbuilding, may be calculated and graphically indicated.

In some embodiments, it may be desirable to allow a user to controlplayback of a movie style of presentation based on a plurality ofevent-specific images 126. According to one exemplary implementationshown in FIG. 13, an animation controls window 1302 may be rendered inthe viewing window of drawing tool GUI 222 described in connection withFIG. 2 to facilitate controlling playback of the presentation. Theanimation controls window 1302 may be displayed by selecting a “displayanimation controls” action item in the animation menu 1300.

The animation controls window 1302 comprises a listing of accidentevents 1306. These events are listed under headings 1304 for thevehicles the events correspond to. A time 1308 associated with eachevent 1306 is listed next to the event. In addition, the animationcontrols window 1302 includes a playback location indicator/controller1310, a playback control button 1312, and a time for the currentplayback location 1314.

Using the features of animation controls window 1302, the playback of amovie style of presentation based on a plurality of event-specificimages 126 may be controlled. A user may pause or play the presentationby selecting the playback control button 1312. The time for the currentplayback location, as displayed in the viewing window, is displayed astime 1314. If the user would like to view a frame at a particular time,the user can adjust the arrow location on the playback locationindicator/controller 1310 to a desired time by sliding the arrow to theleft or right. Alternatively, the user may select an accident event 1306by clicking on underlined text of the event to view the frame at thecorresponding time. Each of these actions will cause the viewing windowto display a frame at the selected time. To playback the presentation atthe selected time, the user may select the playback control button 1312so that the paused presentation begins playing beginning at the selectedtime.

In sum, the features shown in animation controls window 1302 representan exemplary interface for controlling the playback of a movie style ofpresentation based on a plurality of event-specific images 126. Thelisting of events 1306, which are linked to specific locations along theplayback location indicator/controller 1310, allows a user to quicklyaccess a desired time during an accident event to view the scene at thattime or commence playback from that time. Thus, the listing of events1306 represents an interactive timeline of events for each vehicle. Itshould be appreciated that many other implementations for such aninteractive timeline are possible. For example, the events 1306 may bedisplayed in spatial relation to the playback locationindicator/controller 1310 according to the times 1308 corresponding tothe events.

It should be appreciated that the frame rate of the movie style ofpresentation may be based on a sampling rate of one or more sensors thatoutputs data used to depict the events in event-specific images 226 orit may be chosen based on other factors. Of course, the sampling ratesof different sensors may differ, such that the movement of the animatedsymbols in the presentation may not be updated with the same frequency.If the movement of one or more symbols is not as smooth as desired, aposition of the symbol between updates may be interpolated.

It should also be appreciated that the symbols may be animated to movein real time (i.e., in accordance with actual or estimated time data),or may be animated to move slower or faster than real time. Further,different symbols may be animated in different manners. For example, thesymbols of one layer may be animated to move in real time, while thesymbols of another layer may be animated to move at speeds slower orfaster than their real time speeds, or may remain stationary.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 4, GR and/or TR electronic drawingapplication 110 provides a mechanism by which event-specific images 226,an image series 230 and/or a movie style of presentation may beintegrated into electronic reports, such as reports 232 of FIG. 2.Reports 232 may be any electronic vehicle accident reports in whichgeo-referenced electronic drawings may be useful. An example of a report232 is shown with reference to FIG. 5.

Referring to FIG. 5, a traffic collision report 500 that is generatedusing GR and/or TR electronic drawing application 110 and that includesan electronic representation of vehicle operations is presented. Trafficcollision report 500 is an example of a report 232. Traffic collisionreport 500 may be, for example, a report used by accident investigationcompanies, law enforcement agencies, and/or insurance companies.

In this example, a certain event-specific image 226 is read into adrawing field of traffic collision report 500. In this way, the certainevent-specific image 226 is integrated into traffic collision report500. The textual information of traffic collision report 500 may bemanually entered and/or automatically imported from informationassociated with event-specific image 226. For example, a “Description ofAccident” field may be populated with textual information of noteswindow 324 of drawing tool GUI 222 of FIG. 3.

A report 232, such as traffic collision report 500, is not limited toincorporating a single event-specific image 226 only. For example,subsequent pages of traffic collision report 500 may include allevent-specific images 226 of a certain image series 230, such as thoseshown in FIG. 4. Additionally, reports 232 may have one or more mediafiles 154 from vehicle #1 and/or vehicle #2 attached thereto.

The attached media files 154 may be stamped with time, location and/ordirection information. For example, a media file 154 may include atimestamp identifying a calendar date and/or time that the media filewas created and/or a calendar date and/or time that the media file wasstored by VCS 122. Similarly, the media file may include a locationstamp identifying a location (e.g., a city and state or geographiccoordinates) where the media file was created and/or a location wherethe media file was stored by VCS 122. A media file may also include adirection stamp specifying directional information associated therewith.For example, if the media file is a photographic image or video that wastaken with a camera device associated with a compass, the photographicimage or video may be stamped with directional information based on anoutput of the compass to indicate that the image or video was takenwhile the camera lens was facing northwest. In certain embodiments, themedia files 154 may be automatically stamped with time, location and/ordirection information. The timestamp and location stamp, particularlywhen automatically generated, may be used as verification that the mediafile was stored at a particular time and place, such as the time andplace where the report associated with the media file was created. Thedirection stamp may be used as verification that the media file wascreated while a media capture device was facing in a particulardirection or otherwise had a particular orientation. The location, timeand/or direction data used for the location stamp, timestamp and and/ordirection stamp may originate from the VCS 122 or any other computingdevice (e.g., onsite computer 112). For example, the computing devicemay be GPS-enabled and may include a timer and a compass. Alternatively,the location, time and/or direction data may be based on manual dataentry by the user. It should be appreciated that the media file need notbe modified to include the location, time and/or direction datadescribed above, as the data may alternatively be stored in associationwith the media file as distinct data.

As will be discussed herein, the onsite computer 112 shown in FIG. 7 mayhave a communication interface that may receive information from network720, which may be a LAN and/or WAN for connecting to the Internet.According to one embodiment, information about an environmentalcondition may be received as a media file via the communicationinterface. For example, weather information (e.g., temperature,visibility and precipitation information), traffic information and/orconstruction information, may be received from the Internet via thecommunication interface. Such information may be received from a weatherservice, traffic service, traffic records, construction service or thelike. Received information may be attached as files to reports 232.Alternatively, or in addition, received information may incorporatedwithin the reports 232 themselves. For example, if the receivedinformation indicates that the weather at the time of an accident wassunny, such information may be automatically input to the trafficcollision report 500 discussed in connection with FIG. 5. In particular,the report could include this information as text in a data field, or anevent-specific image 226 in the report could include an image of a sunor another icon indicating sunny weather. As another example, if thereceived information indicates that the visibility at the time of theaccident was 20 feet, the report could include this information as textin a data field and/or represent this information in an event-specificimage 226. For example, to represent the area that could not be viewedby a particular driver, the area beyond a 20 foot radius of the driverin the event-specific image 226 could be colored gray, blacked out, ordesignated with hash marks. Alternatively, the traffic collision report500 could be manually updated to include weather information, trafficinformation, construction information, or the like. Conditioninformation received via the communication interface may be stored withand/or stamped with location, time and/or direction data indicating whenthe condition information was stored by the onsite computer 112.

Referring to FIG. 6, a flow diagram of an example of a method 600 ofgenerating an electronic representation of vehicle operations using GRand/or TR electronic drawing application 110 is presented. Method 600may include, but is not limited to, the following steps, which are notlimited to any order.

At step 610, VCS data 128, geo-location data 150, media files 154, ESdata 152, device data 156, diagnostic codes 158, and/or any other dataof one or more vehicles, such as vehicles 120, is acquired by GR and/orTR electronic drawing application 110. For example, onsite computer 112and/or OBDII scanner 160 are connected to VCS 122 of one or morevehicles 120 and the VCS data 128, geo-location data 150, media files154, ES data 152, device data 156, diagnostic codes 158, and/or anyother data of the one or more vehicles 120 is accessed and read into GRand/or TR electronic drawing application 110.

At step 612, any available data of one or more vehicles, such asvehicles 120, is parsed and analyzed by GR and/or TR electronic drawingapplication 110. For example, data processing algorithm 210 of GR and/orTR electronic drawing application 110 organizes VCS data 128,geo-location data 150, media files 154, ES data 152, device data 156,diagnostic codes 158, and/or any other data into one or more records ofdata, for example, on a time-referenced basis. That is, data processingalgorithm 210 may correlate in time the information from two or morevehicles 120 based on timestamp information. For example, records ofdata are created with respect to substantially matching instances intime, based on timestamp information, for one or more vehicles 120.Example records of data are shown with reference to Tables 2A, 2B, 3A,3B, 4A, and 4B.

At step 614, the collection of geo-referenced images is queried and thematching geo-referenced image is read into GR and/or TR electronicdrawing application 110. For example, data processing algorithm 210 ofGR and/or TR electronic drawing application 110 queries input images216, which are the geo-referenced images, in order to find the inputimage 216 that substantially matches the location information ofgeo-location data 150, which is determined at step 612. Once thematching input image 216 is found, the input image 216 is read into GRand/or TR electronic drawing application 110 and may be rendered in theviewing window drawing tool GUI 222. In one example and referring toFIG. 3, an input image 216 that matches “263 Main St, Reno, Nev.” (shownin address field 310) is located in the collection of input images 216in memory 212 and then read into GR and/or TR electronic drawingapplication 110.

At step 616, based on vehicle information, symbols library 214 isqueried for matching symbols of the one or more vehicles, such asvehicles 120. For example, based on information in the VIN in the VCSdata 128 of the one or more vehicles 120, vehicle symbols matching theinformation in the VIN are selected from symbols library 214. Morespecifically, using the Vehicle Descriptor Section of the VIN, which isthe 4th through 9th positions in the 17-character VIN, the year, make,and model of the vehicles 120 of interest may be determined by dataprocessing algorithm 210. In one example and referring to FIG. 3 and/orTables 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, and 4B, it may be determined that vehicle #1is a 2005 Chevrolet Malibu and that vehicle #2 is a 2002 Jeep Comanche.Therefore, the symbols for a 2005 Chevrolet Malibu and a 2002 JeepComanche may be automatically selected from symbols library 214.

At step 618, based on geo-location data, timestamp data, and any otherdata, the relative and actual positions of the one or more vehicles 120are mapped to the geo-referenced image that is selected in step 614 andother textual information is processed. For example, based on the GPSdata in geo-location data 150; compass data, inclinometer data, and/oraccelerometer data in device data 156; and/or any other data of the oneor more vehicles 120 their relative and actual positions are mapped tothe selected input image 216, such as shown in FIG. 3. Further, othertextual information is processed and rendered on the selected inputimage 216, such as in callouts 318 a and 318 b and in note window 324.Additionally, by use of drawing tool GUI 222, other markings may beadded manually to the selected input image 216 by a user 114.

At step 620, data processing algorithm 210 of GR and/or TR electronicdrawing application 110 may generate and save one or more event-specificimages 226. In one example when data processing algorithm 210 hascompleted the automatic rendering of symbols and/or text upon thecertain input image 216 and/or when a user 114 has completed marking up(e.g., with lines, shapes, symbols, text, etc.) the certain input image216, the marked up input image 216 may be saved as an event-specificimage 226. Further, during the save operation of GR and/or TR electronicdrawing application 110, any event-specific images 226 created thereinmay be converted to any standard digital image file format, such as PDF,JPG, and BMP file format, and saved.

At step 622, one or more descriptor files 228 that are associated withthe event-specific images 226 may be created and stored by, for example,data processing algorithm 210 of GR and/or TR electronic drawingapplication 110.

At step 624, at least one event-specific image 226 and/or allevent-specific images 226 of a certain image series 230 and any otherinformation are integrated into, for example, an electronic accidentreport. In one example, a certain event-specific image 226 is integratedinto a certain report 232, such as traffic collision report 500 of FIG.5. Further, textual information associated with the event-specific image226 may be automatically imported into traffic collision report 500.Further, the certain image series 230 that may accompany, for example,traffic collision report 500 may provide an electronic representation ofvehicle operations in a slideshow and/or movie style of presentation,which may depict in time-lapsed fashion the events leading up to avehicle collision, the events at the moment of the collision, and theevents just after the collision. Additionally, media files 154 may beprovided as attachments to reports 232, such as to traffic collisionreport 500.

Referring to FIG. 7, a functional block diagram of a networked system700 that includes GR and/or TR electronic drawing application 110 forgenerating an electronic representation of vehicle operations ispresented. In this embodiment, GR and/or TR electronic drawingapplication 110 may be a server-based application. Therefore, networkedsystem 700 may include an application server 710 upon which GR and/or TRelectronic drawing application 110 is installed.

Application server 710 may be any application server, such as a webapplication server and/or web portal, by which one or more user 114 mayaccess GR and/or TR electronic drawing application 110 with respect to,for example, generating vehicle accident reports. Application server 710may be accessed by users 114 via any networked computing device, such ashis/her local onsite computer 112. Networked system 700 also shows oneor more vehicles 120 and OBDII scanner 160 in communication with onsitecomputers 112, as described with reference to FIG. 1.

Networked system 700 of the present disclosure may further include animage server 714, which is one example of an entity supplying inputimages 216 of FIG. 2. Image server 714 may be any computer device forstoring and providing input images 216, such as aerial images ofgeographic locations.

Networked system 700 of the present disclosure may further include acentral server 716. In one example, central server 716 may be associatedwith accident investigation companies, law enforcement agencies, and/orinsurance companies. Certain business applications, such as managementapplications 718, may reside on central server 716. Managementapplications 718 may be, for example, any incident managementapplications.

A network 720 provides the communication link between any and/or allentities of networked system 700. For example, network 720 provides thecommunication network by which information may be exchanged betweenapplication server 710, image server 714, central server 716, and onsitecomputers 112. Network 720 may be, for example, any local area network(LAN) and/or wide area network (WAN) for connecting to the Internet.

In order to connect to network 720, each entity of networked system 700includes a communication interface (not shown). For example, therespective communication interfaces of application server 710, imageserver 714, central server 716, and onsite computers 112 may be anywired and/or wireless communication interface by which information maybe exchanged. Examples of wired communication interfaces may include,but are not limited to, USB ports, RS232 connectors, RJ45 connectors,Ethernet, and any combinations thereof. Examples of wirelesscommunication interfaces may include, but are not limited to, anIntranet connection, Internet, Bluetooth® technology, Wi-Fi, Wi-Max,IEEE 802.11 technology, RF, IrDA compatible protocols, LAN, WAN, SWAP,any combinations thereof, and other types of wireless networkingprotocols.

In certain embodiments, central server 716 of networked system 700 mayinclude a collection of historical reports 722, which are records ofreports 232 that have been processed in the past. In one example, in thecontext of vehicle accident reports, historical reports 722 may beuseful to inform current reports 232, such as current accident reportsthat are being processed. For example, being able to review historicalinformation pertaining to a certain intersection may be useful to add toan accident report for fault analysis purposes, as certain trends maybecome apparent. For example, historical reports 722 may indicate for acertain highway or street intersection that a steep hill is present, thetraffic light malfunctions, the line of site to the stop sign isobstructed, there is a poor angle of visibility at the intersection, theintersection is an accident prone area in poor weather conditions (e.g.,a bridge approaching the intersection freezes over), and the like.

In certain embodiments, networked system 700 may be used to access otheruseful information, such as weather information 724, which may beaccessed via the Internet. Weather information 724 may be informationsupplied by a national and/or regional weather service that may beincluded in reports 232. Referring again to step 624 of method 600 ofFIG. 6, information from historical reports 722 and weather information724 are examples of other information that may be integrated intoreports 232.

In operation, each user of networked system 700 may access GR and/or TRelectronic drawing application 110 via his/her local onsite computer112. Networked system 700 may provide a secure login function, whichallows users 114 to access the functions of GR and/or TR electronicdrawing application 110. Once authorized, users 114 may open drawingtool GUI 222 using, for example, the web browsers of their onsitecomputers 112. A user 114 connects his/her onsite computer 112 and/orOBDII scanner 160 to each vehicle 120 of interest and collects the VCSdata 128, geo-location data 150, media files 154, ES data 152, devicedata 156, diagnostic codes 158, and/or any other data from one or morevehicles 120. This information may be collected one vehicle at a time.Subsequently, data processing algorithm 210 may synchronize theinformation from two or more vehicles 120 based on timestampinformation.

Subsequently, an electronic representation of the operations of the oneor more vehicles 120 is automatically generated by GR and/or TRelectronic drawing application 110, as described with reference to FIGS.1 through 6. Optionally, depending on the VCS capability and/or thepresence of electrical systems 126, GPS navigation system 140, mediacapture devices 142, environmental sensors 144, and devices 146 in thevehicles 120 of interest, the electronic representation of theoperations of certain vehicles 120 may be generated manually (in full orin part) by the user 114 using drawing tool GUI 222 of GR and/or TRelectronic drawing application 110. The manual generation of theelectronic representation may be based on visual observations at thescene and/or descriptions provide by persons involved and/or otherwitnesses.

In one example, the electronic representation of the operations of theone or more vehicles 120 is useful for supporting vehicle accidentreports. In this process, input images 216 of image server 714 may bethe source of the geo-referenced images that are read into GR and/or TRelectronic drawing application 110. Subsequently, reports 232 thatinclude geo-referenced and/or time-referenced images, such asevent-specific images 226, and, optionally, one or more media files 154attached thereto may be transmitted in electronic form from the onsitecomputers 112 of users 114 to any entities connected to network 720 ofnetworked system 700. In one example, reports 232 that includegeo-referenced and/or time-referenced images may be transmitted inelectronic form from the onsite computers 112 of users 114 to centralserver 716 for further review and processing by authorized users only ofnetworked system 700. This is an example of how GR and/or TR electronicdrawing application 110 is used in networked system 700 to provideimproved distribution and tracking of reports among entities and toprovide improved control over access to reports.

Referring again to FIG. 7, networked system 700 is not limited to thetypes and numbers of entities that are shown in FIG. 7. Any types andnumbers of entities that may be useful in event documenting andreporting systems may be included in networked system 700. Further, inanother embodiment, GR and/or TR electronic drawing application 110 maybe a standalone application that resides on each networked onsitecomputer 112. Therefore, in this embodiment, networked system 700 ofFIG. 7 need not include application server 710.

In summary and referring to FIGS. 1 through 7, data acquisition system100 that includes GR and/or TR electronic drawing application 110 of thepresent disclosure provides an automated way to generate an electronicrepresentation of vehicle operations that is rendered in atime-referenced manner on real world geo-referenced images with symbols,shapes, and/or lines in order to provide improved and consistentaccuracy with respect to drawings that support, for example, vehicleincident reports. Additionally, GR and/or TR electronic drawingapplication 110 has the capability to generate an electronicrepresentation of vehicle operations both automatically (based on actualvehicle data) and manually.

Further, data acquisition system 100 that includes GR and/or TRelectronic drawing application 110 provides the ability toelectronically mark up real world geo-referenced images with symbols,shapes, and/or lines to scale, again providing improved and consistentaccuracy with respect to drawings that support vehicle accident reports.

Further, data acquisition system 100 that includes GR and/or TRelectronic drawing application 110 provides a standard symbols library,thereby providing standardization with respect to drawings that support,for example, vehicle accident reports.

Further, data acquisition system 100 that includes GR and/or TRelectronic drawing application 110 may provide an electronicrepresentation of vehicle operations that is based on actual vehicledata in a slideshow and/or movie style of presentation, which may depictin time-lapsed fashion, for example, the events leading up to a vehiclecollision, the events at the moment of the collision, and the eventsjust after the collision.

CONCLUSION

While various inventive embodiments have been described and illustratedherein, those of ordinary skill in the art will readily envision avariety of other means and/or structures for performing the functionand/or obtaining the results and/or one or more of the advantagesdescribed herein, and each of such variations and/or modifications isdeemed to be within the scope of the inventive embodiments describedherein. More generally, those skilled in the art will readily appreciatethat all parameters, dimensions, materials, and configurations describedherein are meant to be exemplary and that the actual parameters,dimensions, materials, and/or configurations will depend upon thespecific application or applications for which the inventive teachingsis/are used. Those skilled in the art will recognize, or be able toascertain using no more than routine experimentation, many equivalentsto the specific inventive embodiments described herein. It is,therefore, to be understood that the foregoing embodiments are presentedby way of example only and that, within the scope of the appended claimsand equivalents thereto, inventive embodiments may be practicedotherwise than as specifically described and claimed. Inventiveembodiments of the present disclosure are directed to each individualfeature, system, article, material, kit, and/or method described herein.In addition, any combination of two or more such features, systems,articles, materials, kits, and/or methods, if such features, systems,articles, materials, kits, and/or methods are not mutually inconsistent,is included within the inventive scope of the present disclosure.

The above-described embodiments can be implemented in any of numerousways. For example, the embodiments may be implemented using hardware,software or a combination thereof. When implemented in software, thesoftware code can be executed on any suitable processor or collection ofprocessors, whether provided in a single computer or distributed amongmultiple computers.

Further, it should be appreciated that a computer may be embodied in anyof a number of forms, such as a rack-mounted computer, a desktopcomputer, a laptop computer, or a tablet computer. Additionally, acomputer may be embedded in a device not generally regarded as acomputer but with suitable processing capabilities, including a PersonalDigital Assistant (PDA), a smart phone or any other suitable portable orfixed electronic device.

Also, a computer may have one or more input and output devices. Thesedevices can be used, among other things, to present a user interface.Examples of output devices that can be used to provide a user interfaceinclude printers or display screens for visual presentation of outputand speakers or other sound generating devices for audible presentationof output. Examples of input devices that can be used for a userinterface include keyboards, and pointing devices, such as mice, touchpads, and digitizing tablets. As another example, a computer may receiveinput information through speech recognition or in other audible format.

Such computers may be interconnected by one or more networks in anysuitable form, including a local area network or a wide area network,such as an enterprise network, and intelligent network (IN) or theInternet. Such networks may be based on any suitable technology and mayoperate according to any suitable protocol and may include wirelessnetworks, wired networks or fiber optic networks.

FIG. 16 shows an illustrative computer 1600 that may be used at least inpart to implement the geo-referenced and/or time-referenced electronicdrawing application 110 described herein in accordance with someembodiments. For example, the computer 1600 comprises a memory 1610, oneor more processing units 1612 (also referred to herein simply as“processors”), one or more communication interfaces 1614, one or moredisplay units 1616, and one or more user input devices 1618. The memory1610 may comprise any computer-readable media, and may store computerinstructions (also referred to herein as “processor-executableinstructions”) for implementing the various functionalities describedherein. The processing unit(s) 1612 may be used to execute theinstructions. The communication interface(s) 1614 may be coupled to awired or wireless network, bus, or other communication means and maytherefore allow the computer 1600 to transmit communications to and/orreceive communications from other devices. The display unit(s) 1616 maybe provided, for example, to allow a user to view various information inconnection with execution of the instructions. The user input device(s)1618 may be provided, for example, to allow the user to make manualadjustments, make selections, enter data or various other information,and/or interact in any of a variety of manners with the processor duringexecution of the instructions.

The various methods or processes outlined herein may be coded assoftware that is executable on one or more processors that employ anyone of a variety of operating systems or platforms. Additionally, suchsoftware may be written using any of a number of suitable programminglanguages and/or programming or scripting tools, and also may becompiled as executable machine language code or intermediate code thatis executed on a framework or virtual machine.

In this respect, various inventive concepts may be embodied as acomputer readable storage medium (or multiple computer readable storagemedia) (e.g., a computer memory, one or more floppy discs, compactdiscs, optical discs, magnetic tapes, flash memories, circuitconfigurations in Field Programmable Gate Arrays or other semiconductordevices, or other non-transitory medium or tangible computer storagemedium) encoded with one or more programs that, when executed on one ormore computers or other processors, perform methods that implement thevarious embodiments of the invention discussed above. The computerreadable medium or media can be transportable, such that the program orprograms stored thereon can be loaded onto one or more differentcomputers or other processors to implement various aspects of thepresent invention as discussed above.

The terms “program” or “software” are used herein in a generic sense torefer to any type of computer code or set of computer-executableinstructions that can be employed to program a computer or otherprocessor to implement various aspects of embodiments as discussedabove. Additionally, it should be appreciated that according to oneaspect, one or more computer programs that when executed perform methodsof the present invention need not reside on a single computer orprocessor, but may be distributed in a modular fashion amongst a numberof different computers or processors to implement various aspects of thepresent invention.

Computer-executable instructions may be in many forms, such as programmodules, executed by one or more computers or other devices. Generally,program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, datastructures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types. Typically the functionality of the program modulesmay be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments.

Also, data structures may be stored in computer-readable media in anysuitable form. For simplicity of illustration, data structures may beshown to have fields that are related through location in the datastructure. Such relationships may likewise be achieved by assigningstorage for the fields with locations in a computer-readable medium thatconvey relationship between the fields. However, any suitable mechanismmay be used to establish a relationship between information in fields ofa data structure, including through the use of pointers, tags or othermechanisms that establish relationship between data elements.

Also, various inventive concepts may be embodied as one or more methods,of which an example has been provided. The acts performed as part of themethod may be ordered in any suitable way. Accordingly, embodiments maybe constructed in which acts are performed in an order different thanillustrated, which may include performing some acts simultaneously, eventhough shown as sequential acts in illustrative embodiments.

All definitions, as defined and used herein, should be understood tocontrol over dictionary definitions, definitions in documentsincorporated by reference, and/or ordinary meanings of the definedterms.

The indefinite articles “a” and “an,” as used herein in thespecification and in the claims, unless clearly indicated to thecontrary, should be understood to mean “at least one.”

The phrase “and/or,” as used herein in the specification and in theclaims, should be understood to mean “either or both” of the elements soconjoined, i.e., elements that are conjunctively present in some casesand disjunctively present in other cases. Multiple elements listed with“and/or” should be construed in the same fashion, i.e., “one or more” ofthe elements so conjoined. Other elements may optionally be presentother than the elements specifically identified by the “and/or” clause,whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified.Thus, as a non-limiting example, a reference to “A and/or B”, when usedin conjunction with open-ended language such as “comprising” can refer,in one embodiment, to A only (optionally including elements other thanB); in another embodiment, to B only (optionally including elementsother than A); in yet another embodiment, to both A and B (optionallyincluding other elements); etc.

As used herein in the specification and in the claims, “or” should beunderstood to have the same meaning as “and/or” as defined above. Forexample, when separating items in a list, “or” or “and/or” shall beinterpreted as being inclusive, i.e., the inclusion of at least one, butalso including more than one, of a number or list of elements, and,optionally, additional unlisted items. Only terms clearly indicated tothe contrary, such as “only one of” or “exactly one of,” or, when usedin the claims, “consisting of,” will refer to the inclusion of exactlyone element of a number or list of elements. In general, the term “or”as used herein shall only be interpreted as indicating exclusivealternatives (i.e. “one or the other but not both”) when preceded byterms of exclusivity, such as “either,” “one of,” “only one of,” or“exactly one of.” “Consisting essentially of,” when used in the claims,shall have its ordinary meaning as used in the field of patent law.

As used herein in the specification and in the claims, the phrase “atleast one,” in reference to a list of one or more elements, should beunderstood to mean at least one element selected from any one or more ofthe elements in the list of elements, but not necessarily including atleast one of each and every element specifically listed within the listof elements and not excluding any combinations of elements in the listof elements. This definition also allows that elements may optionally bepresent other than the elements specifically identified within the listof elements to which the phrase “at least one” refers, whether relatedor unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as anon-limiting example, “at least one of A and B” (or, equivalently, “atleast one of A or B,” or, equivalently “at least one of A and/or B”) canrefer, in one embodiment, to at least one, optionally including morethan one, A, with no B present (and optionally including elements otherthan B); in another embodiment, to at least one, optionally includingmore than one, B, with no A present (and optionally including elementsother than A); in yet another embodiment, to at least one, optionallyincluding more than one, A, and at least one, optionally including morethan one, B (and optionally including other elements); etc.

In the claims, as well as in the specification above, all transitionalphrases such as “comprising,” “including,” “carrying,” “having,”“containing,” “involving,” “holding,” “composed of,” and the like are tobe understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean including but not limitedto. Only the transitional phrases “consisting of” and “consistingessentially of” shall be closed or semi-closed transitional phrases,respectively, as set forth in the United States Patent Office Manual ofPatent Examining Procedures, Section 2111.03.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus to document operation of a firstvehicle in a geographic area, the apparatus comprising: a communicationinterface; a memory to store processor-executable instructions; and aprocessing unit communicatively coupled to the communication interfaceand the memory, wherein upon execution of the processor-executableinstructions by the processing unit, the processing unit: controls thecommunication interface to electronically receive source datarepresenting at least one input image of the geographic area in which atleast a portion of the operation of the first vehicle occurs; acquiresvehicle-based information relating to the first vehicle at a time duringor proximate the operation of the first vehicle in the geographic area;renders, based at least in part on the vehicle-based information, amarked-up image including a first representation of at least the portionof the operation overlaid on the at least one input image; and furthercontrols the communication interface and/or the memory to electronicallytransmit and/or electronically store information relating to themarked-up digital image so as to document the operation of the firstvehicle with respect to the geographic area.
 2. The apparatus of claim1, wherein the processing unit acquires a media file comprising audioinformation and/or video information and/or image information generatedduring or proximate the operation of the first vehicle.
 3. The apparatusof claim 2, wherein the media file is captured using a media capturedevice mounted in the first vehicle, and wherein the media capturedevice is a digital camera, an infra-red camera, or an audio recorder.4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the processing unit acquires themedia file from a vehicle control system associated with the firstvehicle.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the input image isgeo-referenced.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising adisplay device; wherein the processing unit controls the display deviceto display the marked-up digital image.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6,further comprising at least one user input device, wherein theprocessing unit further: categorizes the at least one input image,and/or the first representation of at least a portion of the operation,into a plurality of display layers of the marked-up digital image;controls the display device and/or the at least one user input device soas to provide for independent enabling or disabling for display of atleast some display layers of the plurality of display layers; andcontrols the display device so as to display only enabled display layersof the plurality of display layers.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7, whereinthe processing unit categorizes the at least one input image as areference layer; and categorizes the first representation of at least aportion of the operation as a symbols layer.
 9. The apparatus of claim7, wherein the processing unit further controls the display deviceand/or the at least one user input device to provide for alternateenabling and disabling for display of at least one display layer of theat least some display layers so as to facilitate a comparative viewingof the at least some display layers.
 10. The apparatus of claim 7,wherein the processing unit further: controls the display device so asto display a layer directory or layer legend pane respectivelyindicating all of the plurality of display layers; and controls thedisplay device and/or the at least one user input device to allowing forselection of at least one display layer of the plurality of displaylayers indicated in the layer directory or layer legend pane so as toenable or disable for display the selected at least one display layer.11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein: at least one display layer of theplurality of display layers includes a plurality of sub-layers; theprocessing unit categorizes at least some of the at least one inputimage, and/or at least some of the representation of at least a portionof the operation, into the plurality of sub-layers; the processing unitcontrols the display device and/or the at least one user input device soas to provide for independent enabling or disabling for display of eachsub-layer of the plurality of sub-layers of the at least one displaylayer; and the processing unit controls the display device so as todisplay only enabled sub-layers of the plurality of sub-layers.
 12. Theapparatus of claim 6, further comprising a user input device, whereinthe processing unit acquires user input from the user input device toadd to the marked-up digital image a second representation of at least aportion of the operation.
 13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theprocessing unit: selects a vehicle symbol corresponding to the firstvehicle from a plurality of vehicle symbols in a symbol library; andwherein the first representation comprises the selected vehicle symbol.14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the processing unit: selects thevehicle symbol based on a vehicle identification number of the firstvehicle.
 15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing unit:generates a series of images, including the marked-up digital image,wherein the series of images comprises representations of the operationat different sequential times.
 16. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thevehicle-based information relates to an environmental condition in anarea proximate to the first vehicle at a time during or proximate theoperation.
 17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the environmentalcondition comprises at least one of: a temperature in an area of thefirst vehicle; a humidity in an area of the first vehicle; and a levelof light in an area of the first vehicle.
 18. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the vehicle-based information comprises at least one of: atleast one position of the first vehicle during or proximate theoperation; at least one timestamp indicating at least one time during orproximate the operation; an inclination of the first vehicle; adirection of the first vehicle; a speed of the first vehicle; anacceleration of the first vehicle; an airbag deployment status; athrottle position or degree; a brake position or degree.
 19. An methodfor documenting operation of a first vehicle in a geographic area, themethod comprising: A) electronically receiving source data representingat least one input image of the geographic area in which at least aportion of the operation of the first vehicle occurs; B) acquiringvehicle-based information relating to the first vehicle at a time duringor proximate the operation of the first vehicle in the geographic area;C) electronically rendering, based at least in part on the vehicle-basedinformation, a marked-up image including a first representation of atleast the portion of the operation overlaid on the at least one inputimage; and D) electronically transmitting and/or electronically storinginformation relating to the marked-up digital image so as to documentthe operation of the first vehicle with respect to the geographic area.20. An apparatus for documenting operation of a first vehicle in a firstgeographic area, the apparatus comprising: a communication interface; amemory to store processor-executable instructions; and a processing unitcommunicatively coupled to the communication interface and the memory,wherein upon execution of the processor-executable instructions by theprocessing unit, the processing unit: controls the communicationinterface to electronically receive source data representing at leasttwo input images of the first geographic area; acquires vehicle-basedinformation relating to the first vehicle at a time during or proximatethe operation of the first vehicle in the first geographic area;renders, based at least in part on the vehicle-based information, aslideshow or a movie presentation, wherein the slideshow or moviepresentation comprises at least two marked-up digital images,comprising: (i) a first marked-up digital image comprising a firstrepresentation of at least a first portion of the operation of the firstvehicle overlaid on at least one of the at least two input images; and(ii) a second marked-up digital image comprising a second representationof at least a second portion of the operation of the first vehicle thatis different from the first portion of the operation and is overlaid onanother of the at least two input images; and further controls thecommunication interface and/or the memory to electronically transmitand/or electronically store the slideshow or movie presentation so as todocument the operation of the first vehicle with respect to the firstgeographic area.